Dead without a Work Permit
by Thyra10
Summary: Sookie is tricked by Eric to go to his home country, Norway. Soon she is working for Eric and living in his house. A rewrite of the books into human characters, but still the same Eric and Sookie. AH. This story is now completed.
1. Chapter 1

**Dead without a Work Permit**

**A/N:** After a couple of one-shots I`m back with another long story. This time it`s AH – and set in Scandinavia again. Sookie is from Louisiana and dating Bill, but is lured to Norway by a huge blond guy. Soon she is going to need a work permit…

I`ve tried to keep Sookie and Eric the way we know them from the books even if they are all human. So prepare for a hedonistic Eric and a stubborn Sookie. I hope you like them!

I want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for saying yes to beta yet another story for me. I could not have done this without you, Rascal! And three cheers to the girls at the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum for all the fun and laughs I get there.

* * *

**Dead without a Work Permit**

"Bill has disappeared." Eric looked at me.

Pam nodded and the new guy, I thought I heard him introduced as Chow but wasn't sure if that was his first or last name, just looked at me.

"Disappeared?" Was all I could say.

I was still warm from the shower and had started to feel a little better when they threw this at me. I just stared at them. Then I felt my head getting lighter and the last thing I heard was Pam saying in a dry voice.

"She's fainting!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Two hours earlier:**

He was wearing jeans, a vest and flip-flops. Period.

Well, he could be wearing underwear too, but somehow I doubted it.

He was huge, blond and standing in the airport with a sign saying "Sookie Stackhouse".

I was also blond, but that's where all comparison ended. I was much shorter, wearing way too warm clothes and I felt like I had been travelling for 15 hours. Which I had.

"Sookie Stackhouse. That's me." I walked over to him and tried to smile through my exhaustion.

"Ah, Bill's girlfriend. Welcome." He smiled and shook my hand. I was almost worried about him breaking my fingers in his huge hand, but he just felt warm and strong.

"I'm Eric Northman, Bill's boss. You are probably tired. Come on, we'll get you home and your feet up."

His accent was odd, but charming. I figured I would have to get used to that accent. I hadn't been travelling half way around the globe to stay for a weekend. I had come to live with Bill and I had a six months visa in my pocket. I did not have a work permit, but Bill had talked me into coming anyway. "Now you can write the book you have always talked about", he had said in his e-mail and I had agreed to live in his apartment, eat his food and spend his money. I did not enjoy that I was going to be a `kept woman`, but that had been the only way I could be close to Bill now that he had moved to this God-forsaken country.

I looked around.

"Where's Bill?"

"I'm so sorry. He couldn't make it. You'll just have to make do with little, old me instead." He waggled his eyebrows.

He wasn't old, my estimate was early thirties, and he certainly wasn't little. He was almost 7 feet, had broad shoulders and arms that would go two times around my waist. Or so it seemed. He was Bill's opposite in so many ways. Bill, my boyfriend, was much shorter, dark and had a refined Southern look where Eric looked as if he had stepped out of the Viking Age and put on flip-flops.

"He couldn't make it??!" My voice gave me away and my eyes filled up with tears. I hated flying and yet I had spent the last 15 hours on airplanes and in airports just to find that my boyfriend of 2 years hadn't even bothered to show up at Oslo airport to pick me up.

"Come on, come on. He would have been here if he could, I'm sure. Let's get you home and freshened up a bit." He bent down and sniffed at my neck and I took one step back and stared at him.

"You need a shower." He winked at me.

"What?"

"Your hair is dirty and your smell could knock down a horse." He laughed a loud laugh.

He took my luggage cart and started walking towards the exit. I had to run to keep up with his speed.

"So I come all the way to Norway to visit my boyfriend and all I'm met with is his boss offending me?" I almost yelled.

"No, I'm just trying to make you feel better." He looked over his shoulder to me, still with a huge smile on his face.

"By telling me that my breath could knock down a horse?" I couldn't believe this.

"No, by telling you that you are just a car ride away from taking a shower. And the car ride is with me. Most girls would jump at that opportunity."

"I'm not most girls." I muttered.

"No, I figured that much."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

He didn't answer, just walked on with me running behind him. We were out the doors heading towards the parking lot when I felt the sun warm me up even more. The old English saying `Horses sweat, men perspire, women only glow` would mean that I was a horse. Well, that would fit since I apparently could knock down one with my breath.

I was definitely wearing too warm clothes, but who could blame me? I'm from Louisiana and the prospect of going to Norway, way up there by the Polar Circle, would have made any Southern girl dress in thick sweaters and warm coats. How was I supposed to know it could be hot here?

I looked around and realized everyone was wearing skirts, shorts and t-shirts. That made me even warmer.

"Please stop. I need to take off my coat and sweater."

Eric stopped and looked at me with an ironic smile.

"Did you think you were going to the North Pole?"

"Well, it's awfully close."

After having taken off my coat, I pulled off my sweater, but that just made me realize that Eric was right. I didn't exactly smell of flowers and I turned red from embarrassment. This was not how I had wanted to meet Bill's boss and I started mentally preparing the lecture I was going to give Bill. Why hadn't he been here?

We came to a tiny, red car. I gaped. I had imagined that an ostentatious, and probably wealthy guy like Bill's boss, would have a huge car – possibly a sports car. Eric saw my face and laughed.

"It's an electric car called THiNK. It's Norwegian and I own part of the company so I really ought to have one myself, don't you think? Electric cars are the future." His hand caressed the car as if it had been a pet.

"And it doesn't hurt my image that I'm involved in something that might save the planet." He smiled.

"I still have a couple of sports cars, but the tabloids are all over me when I use one of them." He rolled his eyes.

We got into the car and because of its size, I had to sit way too close to him. I felt even worse when his clean and manly smell hit my nostrils.

Soon we were out on the freeway, going slower than most of the traffic.

"Damned electric car." Eric muttered.

XXXXXXXXX

After quite a drive, we were in the center of Oslo. Just behind what Eric had explained was the royal castle, he drove into the drive way of a charming old wooden house. Eric parked outside the house, pulled my bags from the car, and nodded his head towards the building.

"Here is where you'll be staying."

I looked up and smiled. It looked great and it was in the middle of the city. My smile cracked when I saw the name on the door. 'Eric Northman'.

"This is your house?"

"Yes, this is my house." He said with pride in his voice. "I've lived here since I was a kid."

"But why would I live in your house?" I asked.

"I'll explain it to you later. Come on in now."

We walked up the stairs and into what I would define as a very Scandinavian house. In the middle of the living room he had a huge couch and from the couch a blond woman looked up at us.

"So how did the THiNK do on the freeway?" She said with an innocent smile. Eric growled.

She came over to me.

"You must be Sookie?" She took my hand. "I'm Pamela, Eric's half-sister."

Her English had a very British accent. She looked as healthy as a milk maid. If milk maids wore high class brands and stylish pumps, that is. I felt even more like the poor cousin from the countryside. The smelly, poor cousin from the countryside.

As if she could read my thoughts, she asked me if I wanted to take a shower.

"Oh, yes." I would have hugged her had I had there not been the danger of my smell knocking her over, according to her half-brother.

And soon I was standing in the loveliest shower in the largest bathroom I had ever used. I could have used a bucket of water to shower in by the state of me, but I was definitely not saying no to a luxurious shower instead.

Pamela, or Pam as she insisted I call her, had laid out a thick and long bathrobe for me. I pulled it on and with a towel around my hair and a smile on my lips, I went out to thank my hosts.

Eric and Pam were not alone in the living room. A guy with black hair and East-Asian features looked up.

"This is Chow. He is my manager of security." Eric explained. "And there is something we need to talk to you about."

They told me about Bill missing and the news combined with exhaustion and lack of food made my body cave in. Embarrassingly enough, it decided to faint.

When I came to, I was on the couch and Eric was on his knees with his face very close to mine. I became aware of my breath and as he was somewhat smaller than the horse I apparently could kill, I kept my mouth closed shut. Now why hadn't I unpacked my toothbrush?

"She's awake." Eric informed the others.

"Good. I don't have all day." Pam said in a dry voice.

I got up to a sitting position.

"Well, excuse me for fainting." I said in a sarcastic tone of voice. "Would you mind telling me what's going on? Where is Bill and how did he go missing? And why are the police not here?"

They looked at each other. I didn't like that look.

"The police are not here because we have not reported him missing." Eric explained. I started to speak, but he held up his hand to stop me.

"We don't know where Bill is or he wouldn't have been missing, now would he? He left three weeks ago on a business trip and never returned."

"THREE WEEKS AGO?!? And you are telling me this now?" I couldn't believe my own ears. Suddenly I realized something.

"But Bill invited me to come two weeks ago. Why would he do that if he wasn't here?"

Eric, Pam and Chow exchanged looks. I'm no telepath, but I knew something bad was coming.

"Pam, Chow, leave me alone with Sookie."

When Pam and Chow had left the room, Eric sat next to me on the couch. He had his arm on my shoulder and sat way too close for comfort.

"What do you know about Bill's job?" He looked me deep in the eyes.

"Well, I don't really know much apart from the fact that he has worked for you for quite some time, but even when he worked out of Louisiana, he never told me much. And when he moved to Norway 3 months ago, he stopped talking about his job all together. I mean, I know you are working on some kind of a computer game since that's what your company does, but apart from that… nothing."

"I find that hard to believe." Eric said with cold, blue eyes trying to dig their way into my brain through my eyes.

I didn't tell him that Bill had almost stopped calling me or sending me e-mails after he had moved over. And he was never available on the chat anymore. This was why I had jumped at his invitation and had come over like a love-sick puppy. Normally I would have felt bad about accepting an invitation like that. But I had just been so pleased to hear from Bill again, the old lovable Bill, that I had thrown my clothes into a suitcase, quit my job and taken the first plane.

And now I was told that it wasn't Bill who had invited me. I could kick Bill. I could kick Eric too, come to think of it.

"Why on earth did you invite me over on false pretences?" My voice was a little high pitched, but I couldn't help it.

"We felt you would be more motivated to come if Bill seemed to ask you to."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and got up and literally stomped my foot in the ground.

"What the hell?" The Puritans who argued that swearing was only used by people, whose vocabulary was too poor for them to express themselves without swearing, were right in my case. I had no words and just repeated "what the hell?" while marching out of the room.

Before I got to the door, Eric had overtaken me and stood in my way.

"It is most likely that you know what he is up to and we want you to tell us." He said, grabbing my shoulders with his huge hands.

"Why haven`t you alerted the police if you are so worried about Bill?"

"I'm not worried about Bill, I'm worried about the secrets he took with him. Bill is a corporate spy and he could destroy my company if he is not stopped."

"Huh?" Was all I could say.

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**A/N:** Thank you for reading this. I hope you liked it!

You probably noticed that I`m picking out bits from the books and using it in the story. Which scene is your favorite in the books? Maybe I can use it in my story ;-)


	2. Chapter 2

**Dead without a Work Permit**

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: **

Wow! I am so amazed by the number of people who chose to subscribe to this story, review it and/ or write me a review. Thank you so much. You make me dance around in the streets of Oslo!

I forgot to have a disclaimer in chapter 1, but if anyone doubted, I do unfortunately not own these characters - Charlaine Harris does. I only brought them closer to my home and took them out to play.

I also forgot to mention that the THiNK-car is in fact in production – and partly owned by a blond playboy billionaire. His name is not Eric, though…

A huge hug to **Rascalthemutant** at the **Alexander Skarsgård library forum** for reading this through and deleting all my Scandinavianism.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_Before I got to the door, Eric had overtaken me and stood in my way._

"_It is most likely that you know what he is up to and we want you to tell us." He said, grabbing my shoulders with his huge hands._

"_Why haven`t you alerted the police if you are so worried about Bill?"_

"_I'm not worried about Bill, I'm worried about the secrets he took with him. Bill is a corporate spy and he could destroy my company if he is not stopped."_

"_Huh?" Was all I could say. _

* * *

XXXXX

I had gotten dressed, my teeth were brushed and I was now back with the three members of the Spanish Inquisition, Norwegian Branch.

"I have nothing to do with whatever Bill has or has not stolen and I'm getting on the first plane back to Louisiana. I wish you the best of luck, but this is not my business." I got up.

"So you are running with your tail between your legs, home to a house you have leased out and a job you have quit?" Chow said with a thick East-Asian accent. He stared at me. There was no lost love between Chow and me and I was pretty sure he thought I knew more than I was telling.

"How do you know I've quite my job…" I trailed off, remembering that it wasn't Bill I had e-mailed back and forth with the last 2 weeks, but these three sneaky bastards.

They looked at me the way I imagined a spider looks at a fly that has just landed in its web. I felt trapped and mad. Of course that made my eyes think they should produce masses of water.

"And now she's crying." Pam said dryly.

"What the hell would you do if you came to a foreign country, thinking you were going to live happily ever after with your boyfriend only to find that three….. " I couldn't find a swearword bad enough to describe them so I just waved my hand in their direction. "Have set it all up just to trick me to come over and spill some kind of information that I don't have."

"Plus we would like you to help us find Bill." Eric said in a neutral tone of voice.

"Well, that's rich. Why would I want to help you find Bill? And how? It's not like he told me where he was going." I was pretty angry now.

"She should know the truth." Pam said. Eric growled. They apparently had some disagreement there.

So that was how I was told the tale about Bill's former lover Lorena, a woman Bill had never mentioned to me. She coincidently owned a computer game company that was a competitor to Eric`s company.

"So we believe that Bill has been a spy at 'Viking Games a.s.' for quite some time and that everything we have worked on is in the hands of Lorena." Chow concluded.

They were all looking at me as if they expected me to pull out my long sword and chop Bill`s head off. As it happens, I never packed one. I only packed my heart and it had just been broken into a thousand pieces.

"And how is this information going to make me want to help you find Bill?" I asked.

Xxx

"Ok, let's make a deal. You have nowhere to live and you don't have a job. I know you came here to visit Bill and write the book you have wanted to write for years. You planned on staying for the 6 months you visa allows you to and I suggest you do just that. You can stay here in my house. I will hire you from time to time to make sure you are not broke and you will still be able to write your book. You will help us find Bill and make a case against him for corporate espionage and you will get revenge on him that way." He smiled. "If that's what you want. If revenge is not important, you can just look at it as a well-paid job. So how does that sound?"

When I didn't answer immediately, he continued.

"You'll be able to see Norway and Scandinavia and I may also give you some odd jobs in your primary field of work, which is PR, if I'm not wrong? That could look good on your resume when you get back home."

What could I do? For once in my life I had actually burned a couple of bridges. I had put all my money on Bill and he had run in the wrong direction on the race track. Eric was giving me the opportunity to change horses and even if I was fond of the first horse I had put my bet on, the new one didn't look too awful. And there really wasn't any alternative.

Furthermore – I could always go home if I didn't like it here.

"I'll do it." I said with a sigh.

I hadn't realized how important I was to them before I saw their relief at my acceptance. Eric even grabbed me for a huge bear hug.

"Come on, I'll show you your room. We'll get along perfectly, I'm sure."

He ran down a long corridor, with me flying behind him being held by my hand.

This was how I came to work for Eric and 'Viking Games a.s.'. I was tricked first by my boyfriend and then by his boss. But looking at the room - it was huge and had a view straight over to the royal palace - I felt that I could live with it.

I also felt very tired. So after unpacking my suit case, I went to bed. Unfortunately I had a nightmare of a Viking chasing a Southern soldier.

Xxxx

The next morning I felt far from rested. I took a good long shower in an effort to wake up, but when I came to the kitchen and saw the two pictures of perfection, Eric and Pam, I felt like I should just crawl back into bed. I snuggled closer into the bath-robe.

"Good morning, little one. I hope you slept well?" Eric went over to the coffee maker and poured me a cup without even asking if I wanted one. Well, I wanted one and I needed it too.

"Good morning. " I couldn't hold back a yawn.

"So what are the plans today? Where do we start looking for Bill?" I might as well act as if I could be professional about it.

"It's Saturday, so there's no point in looking for him today. That can wait until Monday. Today I plan on taking you out to see Oslo. Bring a bathing suit. It's sunny outside so we can both catch some rays."

Sunbathing may be up there with smoking and drinking as hazardous things to do to yourself, but as I didn't drink (much) or smoke (any), I figured I could allow myself the pleasures of the sunrays. I had always loved lying in the sun with a good book.

I had a quick breakfast, put on a sun-dress and gathered my bathing suit.

"So where are we going?" I asked Eric when we were out the door.

"We'll walk through the center of town and to the harbor where there are boats going out to the little island just off the shore. You'll love it." He said with a voice full of enthusiasm.

This was not a man worried about being ripped off by a competitor. This was a little boy going to the beach.

When we came to the beach after a beautiful boat ride, I had to revise my 'little boy'-thoughts. There was nothing 'little boy' about Eric in swim trunks. Especially not close fitting, pink lycra swim trunks.

I gaped and Eric chuckled.

Xxxxx

We had fun in the sun. Bill's betrayal was lurking in the back of my head, but I had to hand it to Eric, he knew how to make me relax and enjoy myself. He had a certain mixture of innocent teasing and sexual innuendo that made me laugh even when I tried not to. Like when I noticed that we had the same hair color.

"We sure do. But are you blond all over?" He replied waggling his eyebrows.

"Don't you wish you knew?"

"Yes." He simply stated.

"Well, you'll just have to wonder."

"I am." He said. "Blond everywhere."

"I could tell as much from your chest hair."

He raised my arm to check my armpit. "You silly, American women shaving your body hair." He said, dropping my arm.

I opened my mouth to say something else on the topic, but realized that I was talking to a man I had met just the day before, a man who had apparently been tricked by the same boyfriend who had betrayed me, a man who would be my new boss, come Monday morning.

He took my arm again and pulled me up.

"Let's go swimming!" And soon we were like two third graders splashing water at each other and enjoying the waves.

Xxxx

When we came home, I felt the full effect of the time zones I had travelled through and excused myself. My head had not hit the pillow before I was sound asleep.

It was still light outside when I woke up so I figured I hadn't slept that long, but then I hadn`t taken the long summer nights of Scandinavia into account. I looked at my watch and was shocked to see that it was 10 at night. I was getting a bit hungry too so I got up and went into the living room.

"So there is Sleeping Beauty." Eric said. He was sitting in the couch texting on his phone. "I was just about to go in and see if a kiss from a prince would have woken you up."

"Oh, do you have any of those guys on call?" I pointed out the window towards the royal castle. There had to be a prince in that castle?

Eric laughed.

"Well, I`m not exactly considered a frog myself." He smiled a crooked smile.

"No, I can imagine." I said rolling my eyes.

We stood quiet for some time. Then Eric got up and clapped his hands.

"You must be starving. I know I am so I made a reservation at one of the best restaurants in Oslo. Only, the reservation was for two hours ago, but I`m sure they`ll arrange something for me. I`m a loyal customer. Come on, let`s go!" He took me by the hand and let me towards the door.

"But I`m still wearing the sundress."

"You look fine." He looked at my dress. And then he looked at my dress again. "Yes, you look just fine." He kissed me on my cheek and we were off.

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N:**

As you can see, the story will live its own life, but I`m using bits and pieces from all over the books – I`m all for recycling. Thank you for pointing me in the direction of your favorite scenes. I will certainly try and fit them into the story as most of your favorites are my favorites too.

I hope you liked this chapter – and I`m always open for more suggestions on stuff from the book you would like included in this story ;-D


	3. Chapter 3

**Dead without a Work Permit**

**Chapter 3**

**A/N: **

Wow, I am touched by all the reviews, favorites and subscriptions! Thank you so much. I can`t tell you how happy it makes me that you like this story.

I want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for her strong eyes, her corrections and her encouragement. I also want to thank everyone at the **Alexander Skarsgård library forum** for the fun and cheering.

Eric and Sookie are not mine, unfortunately. I hope no one minds that I took them home with me to play.

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

_We stood quiet for some time. Then Eric got up and clapped his hands._

"_You must be starving. I know I am so I made a reservation at one of the best restaurants in Oslo. Only, the reservation was for two hours ago, but I`m sure they`ll arrange something for me. I`m a loyal customer. Come on, let`s go!" He took me by the hand and let me towards the door._

"_But I`m still wearing the sundress."_

"_You look fine." He looked at my dress. And then he looked at my dress again. "Yes, you look just fine." He kissed me on my cheek and we were off._

* * *

**Chapter 3: **

The restaurant was called `Statholdergården`, and was like walking into a 19th century living room. The furniture gave the whole place extraordinary atmosphere and I liked it immediately. I did feel rather uncomfortable in my sundress though. Eric must have read my mind, because he bent down and whispered.

"You look perfect."

We had a table by the window and looked out in the Oslo night. The sun was still up, but the restaurant was getting empty. People were drinking coffee and paying their bills.

"Let`s just get something light. I don`t want to keep the cooks and chefs here all night." I whispered to Eric.

"The chef and owner is a friend of mine. I`m sure he wouldn`t mind getting home a little later when he sees that I brought someone as sweet as you to eat his food."

Just as I was about to tell him I wasn`t especially sweet and that this wasn`t a date, a chubby chef came in with a smile that was even larger than Eric`s.

"Eeeeric". He started shouting all the way from the door to the kitchen and soon the two men were entangled in a bear hug.

"So how are Dawn and Maudette?" The Chef asked.

"Dawn is just fine, but Maudette was a pathetic creature. But Bent, your poor manners are ruining mine. Bent, this is Sookie." He made an arm movement in my direction. "Sookie, this is Bent; the best Chef in Oslo. His place even has a star in the Michelin guide book. And everyone knows it should have had two."

Eric and Bent seemed very friendly. I couldn`t help feeling bad for Maudette, a woman I had never met, for being referred to as `a pathetic creature`.

Bent went back out into the kitchen after having promised us a meal we would never forget. I felt pretty sure I wouldn`t forget this meal no matter what I was served. I couldn`t help liking Eric, but I also felt that it was a dangerous path to enter. I decided to keep my distance. There is, after all, no need to have your heart broken twice in the same week.

I started thinking about Bill and our relationship. It dawned on me that I had always wanted more out of it than he did. Why else would I so happily come running just because he invited me? And now that I knew that it wasn`t him inviting me, I felt like a fool. Deep in my heart I had known that it was very unlike Bill to ask me to quit my job and come live with him, but I had been so willing to believe it, that I had never questioned it.

I was deep in thought when Eric coughed slightly to gain my attention.

"So what did you see in Bill anyway?" Eric certainly didn`t beat around the bush.

I did not want to tell Eric that Bill had been my first real boyfriend or that I had fallen for his cool distance and how I had felt that he knew everything. I would just seem as pathetic as this Maudette apparently had been.

"That`s really none of your business, now is it?"

I knew that it was impolite and probably juvenile too, but Bill was something I wanted to get over with, not something I wanted to discuss over dinner.

Eric looked at me scrutinizingly, then changed subjects and started asking me about my first impressions of Norway. The conversation the rest of the evening was light and humorous and Bill did not enter it even once.

* * *

Xxx

We walked home, laughing and in a good mood. I liked that quality about Eric; he could make me forget that I really just wanted to curl up in a fetal position and cry over lost love.

When we came home, he asked me if I wanted a night cap or a cup of coffee. I laughed because that would usually be something one said to lure the girl into one`s home after the date, but I was already there.

I said `no thank you` and started moving towards my bedroom, when I felt strong arms pulling me back and before I knew it, the strong arms were around me and I felt warm and soft lips against mine.

Judging from the kiss, Eric had had plenty of kissing-experience. He was a great kisser and I couldn`t help kissing back. Luckily clarity hit me and I started pulling back.

"Yield to me, Sookie." He said in a hoarse voice.

Well, that was pretty direct.

"No," I said, in the most definitive voice I could summon. "No."

"I am not Bill." He said.

"No, you are not Bill, all right." I said. When I reflected on that sentence, I was not proud of it.

"You think Bill is better than me?"

"I am not having this conversation." Then I proceeded to have it. "Eric, I appreciate your offering to house me, and I appreciate your willingness to give me a job and taking me out in Oslo."

"Believe me, Sookie, I do this gladly."

"I believe you. But two days ago I thought I was going to live with my boyfriend Bill. I can`t just go kissing someone else." I could feel the waterworks starting to pump.

"I`m not `someone else`. " Eric smiled.

"Eric. I`m going to go to bed now. Alone. Deal with it." I started marching off, hoping I would be behind closed doors before tears would roll down my cheeks. I was, but I couldn`t help a loud sob escaping my lips.

"Are you all right, Sookie?" Eric asked from behind the closed door.

"Uh huh." Was all I could say, but it made him leave.

That night I cried myself to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, I cried some more.

Then I took a deep breath, went to the bathroom, had a long bath in the huge tub and felt much better. Now I was ready to face whatever the world had planned to throw in my face next.

* * *

Xxx

What the world had planned to throw in my face was a tall, blond guy in full soccer gear. He was even carrying a ball. And a huge smile.

"Great that you are up! Come on, you only have time for a quick breakfast since you are to be my cheerleader in half an hour." He was practically jumping up and down.

"But I`m no cheerleader."

"I thought all American girls were cheerleaders. I was looking forward to seeing you in a skimpy skirt and pompoms while shouting my name. Darn it." He teased me. "Never mind. You can cheer for me in jeans if you want. But hurry up."

Before I knew it, we were in the car. One adult kid full of expectation and one soccer-ignorant being forced to go.

"So have you been to a lot of football games before?" He asked.

"Yes, I`ve been to plenty of football games, but I`ve never seen a soccer game." I was wondering why he was asking me about football. He was carrying a soccer ball, wasn`t he? "You are playing soccer, right?"

Suddenly he stood on the brakes and I was almost kissing the windshield.

"I play football. It`s a game played with feet and this is why it`s called football. I cannot help the fact that some silly people in your country decided to use the beautiful word `football` to describe a game played mainly with the ball in their hands and arms. Never confuse football and that violent game you guys play. I love football. Football is art." He would have continued it I hadn`t made a stop-motion with my hand.

"Ok, ok. Relax." I couldn`t help laughing. This was apparently his Achilles-heel and I made a mental note of it.

"So explain the basics of foooootball." I said in a teasing voice.

And he did. He explained the rules, which teams he loved and which he hated, how Norway had once beaten Brazil and how he had started a company team `to get the computer engineers to move their bodies a little`.

I am no sports fan and normally I would have been bored into an early death if someone had talked 15 minutes straight about a sport that meant nothing to me, but Eric`s commitment and love of the sport made me listen closely. He even made me laugh.

The same was the case with the game itself. I actually had fun the two times 45 minutes they played. I did not want to admit to myself that I was looking at Eric the whole time the game was played, but I was. He played with a strange mixture of grace and determination. Anything but victory would go down badly. Luckily his team won with a last minute goal.

Afterwards Eric came over to the stands to me and gave me a sweaty hug.

"We won. Did you see that? Huh? This is what football is all about." His eyes got all dreamy when he was interrupted by one of his team-mates.

"Is that yet another new girlfriend, Eric?" He shouted to Eric making some kissing sounds that made me blush.

"I wish, Charles. I wish." Eric shouted back making my cheeks even redder. Eric smiled when he saw it.

"Come on, Sookie. I need to have a bath and I know just the place." He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the car. If I had been embarrassed about my smell when I was picked up at the airport, I could have just saved myself the embarrassment. Eric smelled like a mixture of a wet dog and a horse after a big race. I couldn`t help laughing.

Before I knew it we were in a parking lot at a forest. A huge forest.

"This forest is huge. You can walk for weeks and still see new parts. Actually you can walk all the way to Sweden, only crossing a few roads and railroad lines. In this forest you have all kinds of wildlife like moose and foxes and even the occasional wolf." He sounded proud, but I couldn`t help looking frightened. Wolves???

"Don`t worry, Sookie. Wolves tend to avoid people so the only thing we ever see is their tracks."

We walked for quite a bit and it was very lovely. I was looking over my shoulders for wolves and moose when he pulled us into the deep woods instead of going out in the more open landscape. Soon I realized why. The most beautiful forest lake was there, inviting us in for a swim.

Since Eric had failed to mention anything about swimming, I hadn`t brought my swim-suit. I was cursing inside because the lake looked really great.

Suddenly I heard a loud splash and saw Eric in the water.

"You brought your swim trunks and never told me that we were going swimming?" I asked in angry voice.

"No." He waggled his eyebrows. And when he saw the question mark in my face he continued. "No, I didn`t bring any swim trunks."

Realization dawned on me and I quickly looked up in the sky, only to hear Eric`s loud laughter from the lake.

* * *

**A/N:**

Statholdergården is a real restaurant, Bent is the chef there and the food makes angels sing.

Eric is definitely channeling my love of football and skinny dipping! Come to think of it, he probably channels every Scandinavian man, woman and child on this.

I hope you liked this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Dead without a Work Permit**

**A/N: **

I got a lot of PMs asking me if there would be any ESN in the near future. Of course there will be ESN (it`s rated M for a reason :-D) but not just now. Not to disappoint anyone, I wrote the little one-shot "**Mr. Petersen vs. Gracious Plenty**" and posted it yesterday. No points for guessing how it`s rated. So enjoy – hope it`ll sate the impatient ;-D

Back to Norwegian Eric. I started my last A/N by saying I was amazed by the feedback this story is getting - and I still am. My heart takes an extra beat every time I get a review, a subscription or a favorite and my heart has been working hard lately. I really appreciate it!! As **Suki59** described it: It`s like crack to us writers and I`m addicted with no intention of sobering up.

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** at the **Alexander Skarsgård library**, my savior, beta and friend. She frequently stays up half the night to read through my sorry attempts at putting words together in her mother tongue. One day I may even learn the difference between `its` and `it`s` ….

* * *

xxxx

**From the previous chapter: **

_Since Eric had failed to mention anything about swimming, I hadn`t brought my swim-suit. I was cursing inside because the lake looked really great._

_Suddenly I heard a loud splash and saw Eric in the water._

"_You brought your swim trunks and never told me that we were going swimming?" I asked in angry voice. _

"_No." He waggled his eyebrows. And when he saw the question mark in my face he continued. "No, I didn`t bring any swim trunks."_

_Realization dawned on me and I quickly looked up in the sky, only to hear Eric`s loud laughter from the lake_.

* * *

xxxx

**Chapter 4:**

"You should come in, Sookie."

"No, I should not." I said looking in all other directions than his.

"Well, if you don`t get in here by yourself, I`m going to come up and get you." He laughed.

"No, you are not, Eric Northman. You are staying there and I am staying here and that`s that." I can be stubborn when I want to.

Apparently so could a certain Norwegian nudist. He started walking out of the water and coming towards me. Even if I tried to look away, I couldn`t help noticing how the water was dripping down from his hair and body. If Eric got his body only from playing football, they should have all the body builder guys try it out, because Eric`s body was pure perfection.

Just when certain parts of Eric were almost out of the water, I jumped up and shouted: "Okay, you win. Turn around while I get undressed and I`ll come into the water."

Eric`s laughter echoed all through the woods.

I turned around and started taking my clothes off. I peeped over my shoulder and saw him watching me with a smile.

"Hey, turn around. This is not a peep show." I shouted.

"Sookie. Take it easy. You`re in Scandinavia now. We love to be naked."

"Well, being in an oven doesn`t make you a biscuit. I`m not Scandinavian." I said. "Turn around. And stay turned around until I give you the ok."

He actually did what I said and soon I was out in the water. I screamed a little because the water was cold, but then I dived into it. I couldn`t help a loud moan. It was so lovely on this hot summer day.

When I came up from under the water, I turned around towards where Eric was, to tell him he could look now. I was safely under water. Only, Eric wasn`t there.

I saw a movement in the water and strong hands grabbed my ankles and pulled. I went under with a scream.

When I came up, I looked right into the mischievous face of Eric.

"You…." I started saying. Then I pushed him hard in the chest while yanking his leg with my foot. I have a big brother and know all the dirty tricks. Eric fell backwards with a yell.

When he came up with surprise written all over his face, I couldn`t help laughing. That brought the mischievousness back in his face. He came closer and closer, moving like a panther.

"Oh, no you don`t!" I held up my hand at him. I was suddenly very aware of my naked state.

He took another step closer to me.

"Eric! Do not come closer!" I yelled.

Another step closer. I took a step backwards, but I was already out way too deep and couldn`t go further and still have my feet on the ground and my nose above water.

Suddenly he did something unexpected. He flipped his feet up and kicked them in the water making massive waves in my direction.

He laughed at the look of surprise and shock on my face. Little did he know that the look on my face came more from seeing a certain body part of Eric`s above water, than at being almost drowned in an Eric-made tsunami. That was one huge body part.

Xxxx

I am not even sure how we got out of the water without further embarrassment (for me). All I could think of was what I had seen in the water.

I had red spots on my cheek and neck and just wanted to get out of the lake, out of the woods and away from Eric. Somehow I got him to turn away while I dressed and somehow I managed to keep my eyes in another direction when he got out of the water, annoyingly slowly, and put on his football shorts. He claimed that his shirt was way too sweaty for him to reuse it so I had to focus on looking away all the way down to the car. I had never looked so intensely at trees in my life.

When we came home, Pam was in Eric`s living room. Eric gave her a hug.

"Hi Sis. To what do I owe the honor?"

"I was just wondering if I could stay at you place tonight?" Pam asked Eric.

"You are always welcome here, you know that. So what is it this time? Lover`s quarrel or someone looking for his wife at your place?" Eric smiled.

"Am I that transparent? Yes, apparently the lovely Felicia was married to a guy that didn`t want her to leave him. I never knew she took our fun between the sheets so seriously and I just don`t want a jealous husband on my door shouting `home wrecker` at me or Felicia seeking refuge in my apartment. I like Felicia, but who am I to break up a marriage?" Pam batted her eyes.

"Hmm, and how did the husband know about your affair in the first place? Are you quite sure that it wasn`t just another easy way for you to get out of something that could turn serious? A few days in my guest room and Felicia is back with hubby." Eric pointed at her mockingly.

"Yeah, yeah, big brother. It takes one to know one." Pam pointed at Eric and they both laughed. Pam apparently noticed me all of the sudden.

"Sookie, there you are. Is my brother treating you right?" She went over and gave me a hug. I couldn`t help liking Pam even if she made me feel awkward.

"Apart from forcing Scandinavian nudity on my refined Louisiana soul?" I held the back of my hand to my forehead in a pretend fainting-gesture.

Pam laughed so hard she had tears in the corner of her eyes.

"Oh, I`m so sorry, Sookie. You know, some of us have grown up learning how to use a knife and a fork while some of us," she looked accusingly at Eric, "act as if they just came out of a cave yesterday."

"Or a Viking ship…" I couldn`t resist saying.

Eric jumped up, grabbed my hand and yelled out. "See, Sis, she gets me. I`m not a caveman, I`m a free-spirited Viking." He looked at me and showed me all teeth and more in a huge smile. "Thank you, Sookie. You can definitely read people." Then he proceeded to kiss my blushing cheek.

"Eric, the British part of me is not amused." She sounded like Queen Victoria, but had a twinkle in her eye. "When are you going to realize that not all people on this globe share your carefree attitude towards naked skin?"

"The British part?" I had to ask. I was curious.

Eric took Pam`s hand and kissed it while bowing deeply.

"May I introduce her Ladyship Pamela Ravenscroft, the daughter of the esteemed Lord Ravenscroft of Ravenscroft Hall. I am the mere son of a commoner and I do hope I am not dragging my little sister down in the soil with my simple upbringing." He spoke in an exaggerated upper-class British tone.

"Oh, my dear brother," Pam answered in the same tone of voice, "you may be a caveman, but your father, the late Mr. Northman, was most certainly no commonman. I do believe that he managed to slip in a silver spoon, or rather the whole cutlery, in your mouth when you were born." She winked at her big brother.

I was laughing so hard I had to sit down on the couch. You could see the sibling affection between Eric and Pam and it warmed my heart. I did feel a little sting too because I had never had the same kind of relationship with my brother Jason. As a matter of fact he hadn`t cared at all when I called him to tell him I was moving to Bill in Norway. He had a woman over and was way too busy getting in her pants to be interested in his little sister.

"So you guys don`t have the same father?" I concluded.

"No, my mother remarried shortly after my father`s death and Pam was the quick result of that union." The laughter in Eric`s eyes was mixed with pain for a short moment. Then he smiled back at his sister. "And we all spoiled this little brat way too much. I admit that I failed my brotherly duties by never beating her up or cutting off the hair on her dolls."

"Yeah, yeah, you were always a sweet teddy bear, never getting me in any sort of trouble." She gave him a hug.

"Oh, you managed that very well on your own, Pam." Eric kissed Pam`s forehead.

I couldn`t help laughing. I had only just met Eric, but `teddy bear` was probably the last description I would use for him. `Trouble`? I could picture that in a heart beat.

I excused myself to go take a shower and change clothes and Eric apparently had done the same because when I returned to the living room, Eric was in the kitchen wearing jeans and a t-shirt and his hair was hanging wet down his back.

He looked up from the frying pan he was stirring something in.

"I`m just cooking us a quick dinner. It will be nothing like the dinner we had yesterday, but I hope it`ll be edible."

"You cook?" I was surprised. Eric didn`t seem like a domestic guy and yet here he was cooking something that looked way more sophisticated than fried eggs.

"Oh, I cook, clean and wash my own clothes. I`m a catch for any girl, I`ll have you know." He winked at me.

"Enough of the bragging, big brother." Pam came into the kitchen with three glasses of white wine. She gave me a glass and then handed one to Eric. "Honestly, can`t all guys cook?"

I could think of a few guys who definitely couldn`t cook - Bill and Jason being two of them.

"Yes, but can all guys cook salmon with brie on a bed of summer vegetables?" Eric took out three dinner plates from the cabinet and started filling each of them with delicious-looking food. The water in my mouth started running and my stomach let out a loud growl. Eric smiled.

It turned out my stomach was right in growling. Eric`s salmon was exquisite and I couldn`t help letting out small moans at every bite I took. That of course didn`t go unnoticed my Eric. He never said anything, but his smug smile told me he knew just how good a chef he was.

After dinner I excused myself and headed for the bedroom. Both Eric and Pam insisted on giving me a goodnight hug as it were apparently the custom in Norway. I had my doubts about the truth in that claim, but as it were I really did need those two hugs.

I was feeling the effects of the jetlag. I had been abandoned by Bill and a little homesickness also started to creep under my skin. I just wanted to crawl under the comforter and get some sleep. Which was exactly what I did. The faint voices of Eric and Pam lulled me to Dreamland.

* * *

Xxxx

**A/N:**

So how do you like Norwegian Eric? And half-British Pam?

(Salmon with brie is very tasty – hubby made it the night I wrote this chapter. Yum!)


	5. Chapter 5

**Dead without a Work Permit Chapter 5**

**A/N: **

Thank you so much for all your reviews, PMs, alerts and favorites. Each and every one warm my heart and make me smile.

Some of you have asked why Eric is interested in Sookie and what is happening to Bill. Your questions will be answered, but not just now. All I can say is that their actions are a result of their personality (or at least how I read their personality in the books).

Thank you again to **Rascalthemutant** and the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum for her strong eyes, her questions and her encouragement. No Rascal = no stories from me.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_After dinner I excused myself and headed for the bedroom. Both Eric and Pam insisted on giving me a goodnight hug as it were apparently the custom in Norway. I had my doubts about the truth in that claim, but as it were I really did need those two hugs. _

_I was feeling the effects of the jetlag. I had been abandoned by Bill and a little homesickness also started to creep under my skin. I just wanted to crawl under the comforter and get some sleep. Which was exactly what I did. The faint voices of Eric and Pam lulled me to Dreamland. _

* * *

**Chapter 5**

When I woke it was light again and Bill was in bed with me. Oh, thank God! Relief swept over me. Now all would be well. I felt his warm body behind me, and I rolled over, half asleep, and put my arms around him. He eased up my long t-shirt, and his hand stroked my leg. I put my head against the heartbeat of his chest and nuzzled him. His arms tightened around me, he pressed firmly against me, and I sighed with joy, inserting a hand between us to unfasten his pants. Everything was back to normal.

Except for the smell of coffee. Bill had never brought me coffee in bed.

My eyes flew open, and I pushed back against rock-hard shoulders. I let out a little squeak of horror.

"It's me," said a familiar voice.

"Eric, what are you doing here?"

"Snuggling." He flashed a smile at me

"You son of a bitch!" I yelled.

"You need to get up. It`s late. And don`t scream at me. I brought you coffee." He pointed at a cup of coffee on my bed stand.

"You didn`t have to crawl up in my bed to give me coffee."

"No, but I wanted to. You looked so good lying in your bed."

I got out of my bed and stood staring at him.

"Eric, I can`t live in your apartment if you don`t respect my closed door. You can`t just go jumping into my bed because you think I look good lying there." I felt like I was talking to a five-year-old.

He blew me a kiss and walked towards the door. In the doorway he turned around.

"One day you`ll want to snuggle with me." He smiled and left the room. I just wanted to scream.

XXX

I showered, got dressed and went towards the kitchen. When I came closer, I could hear a heated discussion. I didn`t understand a word since Eric and Pam were having the debate in Norwegian. It could be Swahili for all I knew, I just assumed it was Norwegian.

I tried to listen in when I heard my name being the general theme of the discussion, but since it was the only word I understood, I might as well let them know I could hear them.

"Good morning, Sookie. I trust the coffee tasted good? And the snuggling was to your satisfaction?" Pam smiled a crooked smile.

"Actually…" I never got to finish my sentence.

"I have to ask you to have mercy on Eric." She snickered. "My big brother was apparently brought up by crazy people and cannot be held responsible for his actions."

I opened my mouth to respond, but was interrupted again.

"Of course if you do like people coming in and snuggling with you, I`d be happy to volunteer." Pam had the same eyebrow action as her big brother.

The big brother was no happy camper. All Eric had to say on the matter was a deep-voiced "Pam" but it had a clear effect on his little sister. She left the room, but not without a wink and a little verbal kick.

"I`ll leave you two lovebirds alone, then."

I inhaled to continue the conversation, but then I had a few epiphanies about where a conversation about Eric snuggling in my bed would end, and I exhaled. I went to get some breakfast and decided to change subjects.

"So what are the plans today? Are we going to start looking for Bill?"

Eric hadn`t moved. He seemed to contemplate something. Then he snapped out of it and looked at me.

"No, we are going to get you a work permit. And then we are going to book you some tickets."

"Tickets?" I asked. For a concert? A movie? A trip?

"Yes, you are going to the Scandinavian Games Convention in Denmark on Thursday." He said as if I had forgotten something we had discussed a million times.

"Oooookay?" Why would I go to a Games Convention?

Eric looked at me as if I was being particularly slow.

"Bill will probably be there." He said as if that was all the explanation I needed.

"Right." Realization dawned on me. "So I`m looking for Bill at the convention. And if I find him?"

"If you find him, you call me or Chow. And then you approach Bill and make him come back to my company."

I rolled my eyes.

"Look, Eric. You may have me confused with Tom Cruise here. This is a mission impossible. How on earth do you think I`m going to make Bill come back to you? He already chose Lorena over me."

"I have reason to believe that Lorena isn`t treating Bill the way he had expected to be treated. He may have expected a position in management and a corner office, but he is basically tied to a chair and doing the same kind of assembly line programming as he did with me. If you could convince him that he still has your heart, he might just come back with you."

"But that would be lying!" I spurted out. I hadn`t thought my feelings towards Bill through, but now I realized that they weren`t there anymore. In just a weekend I had gone from loving Bill deeply to not loving him at all. I bit my lip. How was this happening to me?

Eric looked at me when a dangerous smile started to form on his lips.

"You are in PR, aren`t you? That`s basically lying."

XXX

The line was out the door of UDI, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration. Eric had his arms on my shoulders and directed us to stand at the end of the line.

"I`m sorry about this, Sookie. Apparently Norway is the final destination for a lot of refugees and UDI just can`t keep up. But at least you have nice company while waiting for your work permit." He gave my shoulder a little tug.

I silently wondered if he was this friendly to all people, to all employees or to all women, but I certainly welcomed it, being in a strange country and all.

The line moved slowly, but in Eric`s company the wait wasn`t too bad. After an hour of waiting, we were met by a chubby case worker who introduced himself as Andy Bellefleur. He took us to his office where we sat down in two uncomfortable chairs while he sat at the desk.

"I notice that you have come here on a tourist visa and now you want a work permit?" He asked looking into the screen of the computer.

"Yes, I…" was all I got to say before Eric cut in.

"Yes, Viking Games are asking for a work permit for her just as we have a work permit for all our other foreign employees. I think the formal grounds for a work permit is `special competence`".

"Yes, I see that you have quite a lot of foreigners employed in your business." He nodded to Eric and looked at me.

"Are you also a computer programmer?"

"No, I`m in PR."

"And there aren`t any PR-people available in Norway?" He looked back at Eric.

"No, not with her credentials."

He looked back at me.

"Why did you apply for a tourist visa in the first place if you were going to work here?"

"I wasn`t going here to work, but…" Again I was interrupted. This was starting to become a bad habit.

"She misunderstood the whole process. She was planning on being a tourist for a little while first, but then it turned out I needed her services immediately." Eric lied so elegantly that even I almost believed him. Unfortunately Andy Bellefleur was used to people lying.

"You don`t say? So she didn`t come over as a tourist and changed her mind, now did she? You know that work permits should be applied for in the applicant`s home country?"

"Yes, but as I said, there was a mix-up." Eric and Andy Bellefleur then proceeded to speak in Norwegian. It is very uncomfortable when you hear a lot of foreign words and your name is one of the words among all the gibberish.

Finally Andy Bellefleur and Eric stood up and I got up with them. Handshakes were exchanged and Eric and I were on our way out, leaving Andy Bellefleur with the next person from the line.

"So what was that all about?" I asked when we were back out in the street. Eric put his arms around my shoulders.

"It is pretty hard to get a work permit here in Norway. You need permanent or semi-permanent residence first. You can get that on three grounds: that you are a political refugee, that you have some kind of special knowledge Norway needs or that you are married to or an underage child to someone with a permanent residence. The rule is that only the political refugees can apply for the residency in Norway. The two others have to apply from their home countries." Eric sighed. "It`s bureaucratic, but that`s the way things are run in this country. They are afraid of giving any kind of special treatment to anyone so they always go by the book."

"And what does that mean in my case?"

"That I have hopefully managed to make them look a little away from the book. You`ll get a temporary work permit in a week or two and a more permanent work permit is hopefully also on its way."

We walked quietly for some time. Then I felt something that was nagging me and I had to get it off my chest.

"You know, I could have spoken for myself in there, Mr. High Handed." I said.

"Explain. I don`t know this term."

"It means someone who thinks he knows what`s best for everyone. He makes decisions for them without asking them." Maybe I had put a personal spin on the term, but so what?

"Then I am high-handed." Eric replied as if I had said he was tall or blond. He still had his arm around my shoulder and I didn`t tell him to move it.

TBC

XXXX

* * *

**A/N:**

High-handed Eric is here. The fun part is that I dislike when people are high-handed around me, but with Eric… How do you guys like high-handed people? And high-handed, snuggling people? :-D

I may be stretching the Norwegian rules of immigrations/ work permits a bit in this story. They are pretty complicated as my colleague who just married a Kenyan girl, will tell you. We Scandinavians are nothing without a lot of bureaucracy *insert deep sigh here*.

I hope you liked this chapter.

_Ha en fin dag_! (Have a nice day!)


	6. Chapter 6

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 6**

**A/N: **

I promised myself I would update every three days and now it`s been four. I`m sorry. If someone would just send over a skinny dipping Eric, I`m sure I would update much faster (or not…).

Thank you again for all your great reviews and PMs (I`m learning a lot about Australia, for instance)and to all of you for subscribing and making this story your favorite. It`s almost as good as having Eric snuggling in my bed.

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** at the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum for having the patience to tell me time and time again that people sit _in_ couches and not _on_ them - in English. I would also like to thank **Alexana** and **Miss Swan** for checking up what Debbie looks like in the books. Debbie is not in this chapter, but she`ll turn up. Gah. Last, but not least, I want to give **Greenfan** a hug. She knows why.

Before I forget: I do not own Eric, Sookie or any of the other characters from SVM. They belong to Charlaine Harris. I just brought them home for a play date.

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

_We walked quietly for some time. Then I felt something that was nagging me and I had to get it off my chest._

_"You know, I could have spoken for myself in there, Mr. High Handed." I said._

_"Explain. I don`t know this term."_

_"It means someone who thinks he knows what`s best for everyone. He makes decisions for them without asking them." Maybe I had put a personal spin on the term, but so what?_

_"Then I am high-handed." Eric replied as if I had said he was tall or blond. He still had his arm around my shoulder and I didn`t tell him to move it._

XXXX

* * *

We walked through town in silence and were back at the house in no time. Suddenly I heard Eric swearing loudly and looking down.

"What`s wrong?" I asked. I looked around to see what might have triggered his anger.

"Paparazzi." He hissed.

Now that I knew what I was looking for, I saw a man half-covered by bushes, pointing a huge camera in our direction. I had no idea why he was taking our picture, but Eric was pushing me so fast towards the door to his house that I figured this was not the time to ask.

When we were inside, I opened my mouth to ask, but was stopped by Eric.

"I`m so sorry." He gave me a hug.

"But why would paparazzi take your picture?"

"For some strange reason the gossip magazines consider me interesting." He shook his head and I didn`t push him on the subject.

xxxxx

We had a light lunch. Apparently Norwegians love their open faced sandwiches with seafood on because Eric gave me the choice of bread with salmon, bread with shrimp, bread with caviar that Eric explained wasn`t caviar at all but was called caviar for some strange Norwegian reason, and bread with four different kinds of herring. I soon realized that I would go hungry here if I preferred food that had never swum.

I opted for the caviar since I`d never had caviar before. So what if it wasn`t the real thing? I could pretend.

It turned out I couldn`t really pretend with the Norwegian caviar, seeing that it came out of a tube. I just stared at Eric who couldn`t stop himself from laughing.

"Only little kids eat caviar here. It`s like…." he was looking for a comparison. "It`s like your peanut butter, I guess."

"Why do you have caviar in your fridge then?"

"I`m a little kid in a big package. I thought you knew that by now, Sookie?" He was still laughing and I couldn`t help laughing with him. It was unavoidable.

XXXX

After lunch Eric wanted me to go with him to `Viking Games as` as he felt I should get to know the place I soon would be lying so beautifully about. His words. I rolled my eyes at his prejudice against my profession and immediately made a few comments on the `little kids` games` he was producing.

His office was down by the harbor, next to the new Opera. Eric seemed pleased with the Opera and it was apparently the pride of Oslo. It was all white and the roof was open to the public to walk on, take pictures from or simply sunbathe on.

The offices of `Viking Games` were also white. Very white. Walls, furniture – even the floors were painted white. In all the white, were a lot of black clothed people bent over computers and focusing only on the screen. There was not a woman in sight apart from me, but still none of the men looked up when we entered the room.

"Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink." I said.

Eric looked at me, then followed my gaze at all the men occupied by something so important to them that a couple of strippers could have jumped in and taken off their clothes, without anyone noticing.

"Yes, I have a very dedicated staff." Eric smiled and led me to his office.

"Except for Bill, apparently." I couldn`t help saying.

"Yes, except for Bill."

Eric seemed almost sad for a second and I felt like I was standing with a salt shaker over his open wounds. Well, they were my wounds too, I reminded myself.

And when I looked back at Eric he was his old, happy self and made a gesture to a chair. I sat down and figured I would start earning my pay, even if I didn`t have a work permit (or pay) yet.

"Could I please have your design manual and communication strategy, Eric? I also need to see your press clippings." I thought it over a bit because most of the press clippings would probably be in Norwegian, but I figured I could use Google Translate to look them over. "And what is your `gag line`?"

Eric looked dumbfounded.

"Our `gag line`?"

I couldn`t help my very un-businesslike giggling. Eric certainly didn`t enjoy not knowing everything.

"Yes, your `gag line`. It`s the line you feed the press every time you talk to them. You say it so often it makes you gag. That`s a `gag line`."

Eric nodded and the little wheels in his brains turned at a devastating speed.

"I can`t say that we have a `gag line`. As for design manual and press clippings, I`ll get them for you."

"And the communication strategy? That is the compass for any PR-person and I really need it to get started."

"Ok, then I am looking forward to you giving this company a compass. The only communication strategy we have, is the one you are going to make for us." Eric looked pleased with himself. "You know, Bill never said anything about how capable you were – or how tough. I like it when you take charge. Too few people have the guts to do that around me."

I couldn`t help laughing. And that was no cute and feminine laughter.

"Eric, I have only known you for a couple of days and you have already started running my life and how I live it. If you do that to everyone, you are making it pretty hard for people to stand up to you." I couldn`t believe him. How could he be surprised if everyone around him was knocked out by his… by him being him?

Eric looked taken back.

"Just because I know I`m right doesn`t mean that I don`t want to be proven wrong."

"Are you serious, Eric?" A new wave of laughter came over me. Eric smiled a little, but obviously still didn`t get why I was laughing.

"Pamela doesn`t seem to have any problems being straight with me."

"Eric. Pam has had a lifetime of practice being close to you."

"And you have only had three days."

I didn`t really know what to say so Eric and I just looked at each other for a while. Then Eric got up.

"Ok, I`ll get you your documents. And we`ll find you an office."

"Maybe I could just work from out of your apartment until I have an official work permit? I don`t want the company to get in any sort of trouble."

Eric paused and then gave me a huge smile.

"I like the way you are thinking. To be honest, Sookie, me asking you to work for me was just to sweeten the pill for you so you would say yes to helping me get to Bill. But you`ve been in my office for…" he looked at his watch. "45 minutes and already you are my employee of the month."

That statement made me blush from both pride and anger. In typical Sookie-manner, anger won me over.

"Well, I`m so glad I could actually be of help now that you went to all that trouble and turned my life upside down, tricked me and play a continuing set of games with me." The nerve of that man.

Eric just smiled.

"What can I say? I should be sorry for having turned your life around and for tricking you into coming here, but I`m not. And I do not play games with people. Least of all you. And if you didn`t notice, I was paying you a compliment."

How could he be so calm? I was furious and I felt as if flames would come out of my mouth if I didn`t keep it shut. So I zipped it up. I did try to kill him with my eyes - unsuccessfully, of course. I really needed to work on my assassination-skills.

Xxxx

After getting every brochure and pamphlet Viking Games had ever produced, in addition to the stuff I had asked Eric for, I decided to go home to Eric`s house to start working on bettering the PR for Eric`s company. It seemed Eric had focused on making a great game and his company had done some okay marketing, but PR had been handled poorly. I could definitely make a difference there.

Eric had to stay behind because of some meetings and that was honestly a relief. I didn`t really know what to think of him. I liked Eric a little too much for my own good with all the stunts he had pulled. How could he get into my bed this morning, be so high handed at UDI, take me to skinny dipping and act as if it were all normal?

I started working and felt a relief doing it. The best cure to a mind working overtime was to occupy it on professional thoughts. Soon Eric was pushed very far back in my brain and thinking of a `gag-line` seemed like a task as important as curing world hunger.

Xxxxx

After a couple of hours, I heard the door being opened and closed. I sighed a little to myself and couldn`t decide if the sigh was good or bad.

I had expected Eric and was surprised (pleasantly or not – I wasn`t sure) to see Pam instead. She looked at the paperwork in my lap.

"So Eric has you slaving for him already?" She rolled her eyes.

She came over to sit next to me on the couch I had made into my comfortable home-office.

"You know what you need right now?"

Since I wasn`t a telepath, I couldn`t read her mind. And even if I could come up with a lot of things I wanted right now, I wasn`t sure I really needed anything.

"No, tell me what it is I need, Pam." I smiled at her.

"You need a hot sauna. That`s what you need. The sauna will wash off all of your worries and give you a new outlook on life."

I wasn`t sure I needed a new outlook on anything, but the whole Nordic sauna-culture had always intrigued me so I wasn`t hard to persuade. In Louisiana there is really not much need for saunas as most of us get more than enough heat from just stepping out the door.

I wasn`t really sure where Norwegians kept their saunas. Public bath-houses? Public swimming pools? Apparently I didn`t know Norway – or Eric – well enough because he of course had his own sauna in the basement.

"Most Norwegians do, you know." Pam stated. I had my doubts, but who was I to question her about Norwegian interior trends?

Soon we were back in our bedrooms changing for the sauna. Which of course was when I realized I didn`t know anything about sauna-code-of-conduct. Or put in another way: What do you wear to a sauna?

I decided on my bikini and wrapped myself in a towel as well. When I entered the sauna, I saw that I was so utterly overdressed. Pam lay as naked as a new born on one of the benches and when she saw me she laughed so hard I blushed as if I had spent two hours in the sauna already. Actually I must admit that I had started blushing just seeing Pam. What was it with Norwegians and nudity? Or was this just a Northman/Ravenscroft-thing?

"You can`t wear a bikini in the sauna. The nylon will burn your skin." Pam managed to say between her waves of laughter.

I quickly went outside in the shower area and removed my bikini, but wrapped the towel around me. I was not Norwegian and definitely no Northman/Ravenscroft. When I came into the sauna again, Pam still wasn`t satisfied.

"Sookie, you have to be wet when you go to a sauna and you have to be naked." She spoke to me like to a three-year-old and I figured I had to do as I was told.

Even if Pam apparently preferred women, it was still easier for me to be naked with her than with her brother. Soon we were both occupying a bench – Pam on top where all the heat was and me on the lowest bench. Call me a coward, but I was not about to have a heart attack in a Norwegian sauna.

Lying there enjoying the heat was actually very relaxing. My body had been tense and now my shoulders were finding their normal position – which was not next to my ears. Of course that didn`t last long.

"So when are you going to yield to Eric?" Pam asked innocently.

I sighed and plain out refused to answer.

"You know he likes you, right?" She kept going.

When I still didn`t answer, she continued. "He isn`t as bad as he seems. He has a good heart."

Pam luckily knew when to stop flogging a dead horse and we went on to gossiping like two old friends. Like her brother, Pam was easy going and fun to be with. Unlike her brother, she never hit on me. At least not after I made it very clear that I only dated men.

"Well, Eric is a lucky guy then." She couldn`t resist saying. And I of course had to ask her "why?", which just made her smile and wink. Silly Pam.

* * *

**A/N:**

So when is Sookie going to yield to Eric? Soon? Never? Any guesses?

I hope you liked this chapter. I`m off to have some salmon...


	7. Chapter 7

**Dead without a Work Permit Chapter 7**

**A/N: **

_I`m sorry about reposting this chapter and giving all of you subscribers another notice in your mail box, but apparently this chapter is not really out there for everyone due to some problems on the site and I hope reposting helps. Sorry for the inconvenience!_

So half of you wanted Sookie to yield NOW and the other half wanted it all to grow slowly. One even changed her mind and sent me a lovely PM about it.

And on that note – I love your reviews and PMs. So many sweet and amusing people are reading this story and that makes me smile. I love meeting new people, even when it`s only through a few words online.

**Rascalthemutant** from the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum is my savior and I can`t thank her enough. Now would someone give her a job soon (preferably one with short hours so she can still correct all my mistakes – that`s almost a full time job in itself)!

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

"_So when are you going to yield to Eric?" Pam asked innocently. _

_I sighed and plain out refused to answer. _

"_You know he likes you, right?" She kept going._

_When I still didn`t answer, she continued. "He isn`t as bad as he seems. He has a good heart."_

_Pam luckily knew when to stop flogging a dead horse and we went on to gossiping like two old friends. Like her brother, Pam was easy going and fun to be with. Unlike her brother, she never hit on me. At least not after I had been very clear on how I exclusively dated men. _

"_Well, Eric is a lucky guy then." She couldn`t resist saying. And I of course had to ask her "why?", which just made her smile and wink. Silly Pam. _

* * *

Xxxx

We showered and went to get dressed. Pam wanted to take me out on a girls` night out and I looked forward to that. I actually went to some length to look presentable for the Oslo night life. I wore a blue dress that matched my eyes perfectly and it hugged my curves without laying it all out on display. I also brought a dark blue wrap as I didn`t really know how cold the Oslo night would be.

Pam took me to the street of Rosencrantzgaten where apparently all discos and clubs in Oslo were situated.

"We`ll just start out at one end and finish at the other." Pam stated.

"Can`t we just pick one and stay there?" I said looking at all the long lines outside the various clubs. It was Monday night and still the city was boiling. Literally too, since the sun was still up and it was hot. Everyone was wearing next to nothing.

"Don`t worry, Sooks. I`ll get us in anywhere." And she did.

The first place we got to was extremely crowded so Pam just turned in the door and pulled me out and into the next place where we could actually secure ourselves a table. I noticed the club filled up fast after we had arrived and several people were discreetly pointing in Pam`s direction and I could see their lips go "Pam". So Pam was either a local celebrity or she frequented this place a lot making her name known. Or both.

I didn`t recognize the music, but it was fast and loud and I could feel my feet starting to move almost by themselves. I couldn`t carry a tune if it could save my life, but I could dance like nobody`s business.

Pam saw me tapping away with my feet and pulled me out on the dance floor. We danced and we gyrated. We moved with each other`s rhythm and had a great time. A crowd had started to gather around us to cheer at our dancing. It only spurred us on and made us dance even closer, even sexier.

A parting of the bodies crowding the little dance floor gave me a glimpse of Eric, leaning against the wall behind the small stage. His eyes were on me, and they were full of heat.

"What the hell is Eric doing here?" I yelled to Pam through the music, but when I looked back, he was gone. Had I been mistaken? There were plenty of tall, blond men here and the one I took for Eric was wearing a suit and glasses. I shook my head as Eric had never worn glasses.

Pam just smiled and pulled be back to our table. In our absence a couple had taken the two chairs not occupied by Pam and me. Pam looked a bit annoyed until she got a closer look at the female part of the couple. The guy nodded to us. He started saying something in Norwegian, but switched to English when he realized that I hadn`t grown up on cod and salmon.

"Hi there, hope you don`t mind us sitting here. I`m Alcide and this is Debbie." He pointed at the foxy girl sitting next to him. She was tall and had gleaming short black hair, cut in asymmetrical clumps. She was athletic built and had a long, narrow face. In short – she was my complete opposite.

"Oh, how could I mind having a sexy girl almost in my lap?" Pam said in her sexiest voice.

I rolled my eyes. Pam and Eric were apparently two chips off the same block. Debbie smiled nervously while Alcide moved closer to me.

"What is a Southern beauty like you doing in this corner of the world?" He whispered in my ear. I couldn`t help laughing a little because his question almost sounded like the old `What`s a nice girl like you doing in a dump like this`-routine.

"Long story."

"I have all the time in the world."

Alcide may have had some lame pick-up lines, but he seemed like a nice guy. Dark, muscular and with a warm smile. I couldn`t help laugh at his jokes or melt at his heavy Norwegian accent. According to Norwegians there was no difference between `V` and `W` and hearing him talking about being `wery warm` was just too sweet. In short – I was charmed by Alcide. The gin and tonics he kept feeding me might have helped me along.

Debbie was also warming up to Pam, but still kept a close eye on any action between me and her friend. As I wasn`t sure of the situation between Alcide and Debbie, I kept some distance. And since I wanted to be able to get some work done the next morning, I started to say my goodbyes after the third glass of gin and tonic was empty. Alcide started to get up so I made a pretty quick exit to avoid having him escort me home, but when I was out in the street, I realized I had forgotten my wrap inside. It was a warm night so I figured I would rather call the club the next day and ask if they had found my wrap than go back and give Alcide another chance at seeing me "safely" home.

I was half-way up Karl Johan, the main street going all the way up to the castle, when I felt a warm arm around my shoulders.

"You look cold, elsker," a familiar voice said. I looked up to see that Eric was indeed wearing glasses tonight. He was also wearing a suit. When he saw me noticing his clothes, he withdrew a little from me, held out his jacket and said,

"Do you like the suit?"

"Sure," I said. I have limited knowledge of men's clothes, but I was willing to bet this sort of olive-brown three-piece ensemble had cost more than I made in two weeks. Or four. I might not have picked this out for a guy with blue eyes, but I had to admit he looked spectacular. If they put out a Norwegian issue of GQ, he'd definitely be in the running for a photo shoot. "Who did your hair?" I asked, noticing for the first time that it had been braided in an intricate pattern.

"Oooh, jealous?"

"No, I thought maybe they could teach me how to do that to mine."

Eric laughed and pulled me close to him again. I told myself that I enjoyed his embrace because I was cold, but that was far from the truth. The night was warm and so was I. We walked through the park surrounding the royal castle and were home in no time.

"You are quite the dancer, Sookie, but why spend an entire evening with a loser when you can spend it with me?"

"I`ll be sure to tell Pam that you are calling her a loser." I stuck out my tongue at Eric and in the exact same moment my tongue was out my mouth, he had it in his. He kissed me with an intensity that took my breath away.

When I broke the kiss to catch my breath, Eric whispered "Yield to me, Sookie," in my ear. I couldn`t help laughing.

"What do you mean `yield to me`? This is the second time you`ve said it."

"You yourself said that I needed a gag-line and I decided I would say `yield to me` until you actually do."

"What??" I stared at him, then I burst out in laughter. Eric laughed too.

"You can`t accuse me of not taking your advice. And one day you`ll take my advice too and yield to me. I promise you that you`ll never regret it." He winked at me.

"Do you think I can officially dump my old boyfriend before that happens? Not that I`m saying it would even happen then."

"All the more reason to find Bill as fast as possible." Eric kissed my forehead and left me in the corridor. In the doorway of his bedroom he turned around and blew me a kiss.

"You are welcome to come snuggle with me tomorrow morning. You don`t even have to bring me coffee." And with that he was gone. For exits, this was a great one.

I should have screamed at him or at least told him how nuts it was to creep up in the bed of a semi-stranger. But I didn`t.

* * *

A/N:

This chapter was a bit short. Sorry!

I hope you still liked it – and the Norwegian Eric :-D

BTW. I notice that fanfic is acting up - chapters and whole stories go missing. I sincerely hope you can read this chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 8**

**A/N:**

One-two, one-two. Is the microphone on? It seems Fanfic has some major problems these days and I had a lot of PMs from frustrated readers who couldn`t open the last chapter. I hope it`s better now. Luckily a lot of you could read it because I got so many lovely reviews. Thank you so much for them. I love each and every one of them :-D

And thank you to **Rascalthemutant** at the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum for reading, correcting and suggesting. Now she even had a great idea for a new story. She is amazing!

* * *

**From the last chapter:**

"_Do you think I can officially dump my old boyfriend before that happens? Not that I`m saying it would even happen then." _

"_All the more reason to find Bill as fast as possible." Eric kissed my forehead and left me in the corridor. In the doorway of his bedroom he turned around and blew me a kiss. _

"_You are welcome to come snuggle with me tomorrow morning. You don`t even have to bring me coffee." And with that he was gone. For exits, this was a great one._

_I should have screamed at him or at least told him how nuts it was to creep up in the bed of a semi-stranger. But I didn`t. _

* * *

**Chapter 8:**

The next morning it was the smell of bacon that woke me up. I quickly checked my bed to see if there were any uninvited guests in it, but my bed was empty.

Then I heard the knock on my door that had probably woken me up in the first place.

"Come in." I said while pulling the comforter all the way up to my chin. To my surprise it wasn`t Eric at my door, but Pam.

"Eric wasn`t sure he was welcome in your bedroom so he sent me. As if Eric isn`t welcome in any bedroom occupied by a female Homo sapiens." Pam shook her head and looked at me. "Good morning. Breakfast is ready," she said in an over-cheerful voice and went back to the kitchen without closing the door.

I got up, had a quick shower and entered the kitchen clean, but slightly hung-over. I smiled when I saw Eric with an apron, cooking breakfast and Pam at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper. I could certainly get used to living in Norway.

Before my behind had landed on the chair, I had a large plate with eggs, bacon and beans in front of me.

"Eat before it gets cold," Eric told me in a way Gran could have talked.

Eric sat down himself with a bowl of oatmeal. Pam was just drinking coffee. Then she looked at me.

"So you got home all right last night? You left us so abruptly. I believe you were in such a hurry you left your wrap there. Alcide insisted on bringing it to you, but it got destroyed somehow before he even got to it. I`m sorry."

"What kind of pretentious name is Alcide?" Eric asked. "And how can he not even pick up a wrap without ruining it?"

Pam giggled a little. "My mistake. I thought I had Debbie`s undivided attention, but it seemed she got jealous of Sookie and the attention Alcide gave her. She took her revenge on the poor innocent wrap."

"Couples and their games, I just don`t understand it." Eric looked at me. "This is why I never play games. If I want someone, I tell them as much. I don`t go hitting on other people to get anyone jealous and I certainly don`t ruin peoples` wraps." He was pleased with himself and continued on his oatmeal.

After a while Eric and Pam were done with their breakfast and were off. I went back to my room a bit sorry about losing a good wrap.

I figured I would do a little work on my laptop. Eric had given me the wireless internet access code and I started logging on to go through the Viking Game`s website.

Xxxx

I had been the good little worker bee all morning, working my way through the website, testing it for Google-visibility and checking how well it performed to users. I had made a ton of notes and suggestions for changes and alterations and was rather proud of myself. I started feeling my shoulders cramp up and figured I needed a little walk to clear up my thoughts and get my blood circulation back. Oslo seemed like a safe enough city to just stroll around in so I put on my sandals, picked up my purse and was off.

I decided to walk in the opposite direction from the city center and ended up in a street called Bogstadveien. That was apparently the high-end fashion street of Oslo. There were expensive brands and fur coats from one end to the other. There were also some cheaper European labels like Lacoste and Benetton, but I knew instinctively that I would find nothing is this street that would fit my taste (or my purse).

I spotted a 7-11 and figured I would buy myself an ice cream in the summer heat. I stood in line for the frozen yogurt and looked at the covers of the magazines next to the counter when I suddenly saw a familiar face. Two actually. On the magazine called `_Se&Hør_`, which was definitely a gossip magazine by the look of it, I saw my own smiling face and Eric`s less smiling and looking down.

I remembered the paparazzi from yesterday and was almost impressed at how fast they worked. I looked at the text. "_Hemmelig kjæreste."_ And with smaller letters it said. "_Hvem er Eric Northmans nye dame_?"

Okay, I could understand `Eric Northman` and I figured `_dame_` would mean `woman` of some kind, but the rest had me guessing. I quickly bought the magazine and planned on running the text through Google Translate when I came home. Not even a week in Norway and I`m already on the cover of the gossip magazines, I tried to joke to myself, but I didn`t find me funny.

I forgot all about the ice cream and out on the sidewalk I started reading the two pages about Eric and me inside the magazine. Luckily gossip magazines are 90% pictures so I got most of what they were saying.

My name was never mentioned anywhere in the article. I was apparently a `_mystisk_ _dame_`, which I figured had to mean `mysterious woman`. Apart from the picture of me and Eric, repeated in twice its size inside the magazine, there were also pictures of Eric and other women. A lot of other women. A lot of beautiful women.

I tried to look at the names and titles they were given, but apart from `_modell_`, which had to mean `model`, I didn`t understand much, until I came to one of the larger pictures where Eric was arm in arm with a rather plain looking brunette. I looked at the caption and was amazed when it said `_prinsesse Märtha_`. Eric had dated a princess? Well, she would be the girl next door for him, I giggled to myself, remembering the royal castle next to Eric`s house.

Before I knew it, I was back at Eric`s house, nose deep in the magazine. This was probably why I never noticed the strange looking girl who suddenly pushed me hard into an iron fence. The pointy ends went right through my t-shirt and scraped my back hard before I hit the ground. In my surprise, I didn`t even yell. I just lay there looking up into the face of a mad woman with long brown hair sticking out in all directions. When my head fell down on the ground, I looked straight into the eyes of what appeared to be a pig. Who the hell has a pig in the middle of Oslo, I giggled to myself, before realizing that it was probably just a very ugly dog.

The pain in my back was excruciating and my giggles soon became sobs. The mad woman talked non-stop in Norwegian and I had to stop her.

"I don`t understand Norwegian," I said and the woman just looked at me. Then she laughed a mean laughter.

"Eric has found himself a fucking American? Ok, tell him to keep his filthy hands of you. Actually, tell him to keep his filthy hands off everyone. Do you think your little American brain can manage to give him that message?"

I nodded even though I wasn`t sure. There was nothing wrong with my little American brain apart from the fact that it was about to give in any minute. Just before I fainted, I heard Eric shouting something from far away. The next thing I felt was him trying to carry me inside without touching my sore back and I was gone.

xxxxx

"We must lay her on her stomach on the couch," Eric said. "Here, let me..." I felt another pair of hands grip my legs, Pam sort of turned my underside, and together they deposited me carefully on the couch.

Eric crouched down to look at my face. It was quite a crouch, because Eric, tall and broad, looks exactly like a huge Viking.

"What has happened to you?" he asked.

I glared at him, so incensed I could hardly speak. "I am a message to you," I said, almost in a whisper. "This woman stopped me and then she came up to me with this dog that looked like a pig."

"A _pig_?" Eric could not have been more astonished if I'd said she had a canary up her nose.

"Sookie," Eric said gently, "what did this woman look like?"

His face was right by mine, his thick golden hair almost touching my face.

"She looked nuts."

"By looking nuts, you mean she looked... how?"

"She just looked nuts. She had a wild look in her eyes and her hair was... look, speaking of hair, my hair is getting stuck to my back." I gasped.

"Yes, I see." Eric began trying to separate my long hair from my wounds, where blood was acting as an adherent as it thickened. I drifted off again.

xxx

When I woke up, I was alone in my room. I was lying naked on my stomach and the skin on my back was sore and it was painful to lift my head. I fell back on my pillow, moaning from the pain.

Eric must have heard my moan and he was not one to leave a moaning woman alone in a bedroom. My door opened and closed and I heard his footsteps going from the door to the bed.

"How are you doing?" He said and his usual cheerful voice had an edge of worry to it.

"For someone who has just been impaled on a fence, I`m doing pretty well."

I wanted to get up, but it just hurt too much. This brought something else to my mind. The crazy woman had something to do with Eric.

"Who was the woman? Do you know her? She gave me a message for you, you know." I couldn`t help adding a healthy dose of accusation to my tone of voice.

Eric sighed. "Yes, I`m pretty sure I know who she is." He didn`t elaborate.

"Is she a member of your harem?"

Eric had question marks all over his face so I pointed at the issue of _Se&Hør_ that had surprisingly survived the ordeal and was spread out on the floor. He picked it up and after looking at the pages I had been studying earlier, he threw the magazine into the corner of my room.

"Why did you bring that trash into my home?" He said with an icy voice which of course brought out the temper in me.

"Well, excuse me for wanting to read magazines where I am on the front page as an alleged lover of someone I hardly know." I stared at Eric. "By the way, I haven't heard an 'I'm sorry' from you yet."

"What do you mean? What should I be sorry for?" Eric was angry, but whether he was mad at the gossip magazines for writing trash about him, at the mad-woman for knocking out his lodgers or at me for…. something, I wasn`t sure.

"The woman who hit you was hardly any of my ex-lovers."

Eric was quiet for a while, then proceeded.

"I am sorry that she picked on you."

I glared at him. "Not enough," I said.

Eric was quiet for some time again, then smiled his teasing smile.

"Angelic Sookie, vision of love and beauty, I am prostrate that the wicked evil woman violated your smooth and voluptuous body, in an attempt to deliver a message to me."

"That's more like it." I would have taken more satisfaction in Eric's words if I hadn't been jabbed with pain just then. "Now tell me what my back looks like."

Eric got a concerned look in his eyes as he bent over my back.

"I washed you while you were passed out, but I really need to get some antiseptic on it to prevent infection. After that I`m going to tape them to make the scaring as invisible as possible. The wounds are more like scrapes than cuts so there wouldn`t be any use in stitching them."

He looked at my back and then back at my face.

"I am truly sorry that this happened to you, Sookie." Then he kissed me on my cheek.

Xxxx

If Eric had told me that he had a medical degree, I wouldn`t have been surprised. He was very thorough and careful at the same time. When he was finished being a doctor, he apparently turned into a parent, thinking kisses would take away my pain. Only Eric`s kisses weren`t those of a father to a child. Or maybe Eric and I were so far from father and child that even sweet comforting kisses made me warm all over.

When Eric had kissed my back from my neck to my pantyline, he sighed.

"I want to tell you to yield to me now, Sookie, but I can see that it`s not the time. You`ll just have to yield at some other time. Now is the time for snuggling – and don`t go jumping out of the bed just because I`m also in it."

And before I could jump anywhere, I felt the bed being weighed down by a large frame and I had an arm draped over my shoulder, carefully avoiding any of the scrapes, and a leg over my thighs. Too sore, exhausted, and undeniably comfortable with Eric on my pillow to protest, I soon fell asleep.

* * *

A/N:

I hope fanfic didn`t cause you trouble and that you got to read this chapter. I also hope you liked it :-D

_Kos og klem! _


	9. Chapter 9

**Dead without a Work Permit - Chapter 9**

**A/N**

An update from me already? Let`s just say that all the reviews were a heavy motivation for me to write, write, write – thank you so much for each and every one of them! *kiss*

I just hope fanfic is working now because yesterday no one got the alerts and earlier this week stories went missing.

And thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** at the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum for making sure this story is readable.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_When Eric had kissed my back from my neck to my pantyline, he sighed. _

"_I want to tell you to yield to me now, Sookie, but I can see that it`s not the time. You`ll just have to yield at some other time. Now is the time for snuggling – and don`t go jumping out of the bed just because I`m also in it." _

_And before I could jump anywhere, I felt the bed being weighed down by a large frame and I had an arm draped over my shoulder, carefully avoiding any of the scrapes, and a leg over my thighs. __Too sore, exhausted, and undeniably comfortable with my Eric pillow to protest, I soon fell asleep_.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

A light whisper woke me up and I heard Eric scolding Pam for coming into my room. At least that`s what I assumed he was hissing to her about. Then they discussed something about `politi` that I knew was `police` because I had seen it on the police uniforms at the airport. They also talked about an `uncle` and I just had to ask.

"You have an uncle who is a police officer?" I said, turning my head in their direction.

Both Pam and Eric stared at me, not understanding what I meant. Then it dawned on Eric and he smiled.

"No, `uncle` or `onkel` as it`s called in Norwegian, is the local slang for police. But right now I definitely wish I had a family member in the police force. Whenever I call the police for something, it has a nasty habit of turning up in the gossip magazines." He frowned.

"So don`t call them." I said matter-of-factly.

Both Eric and Pam protested. Apparently they had faith in both the police force, apart from them selling any Eric-related story to the tabloids, and the judicial system and wanted my attacker locked away. As much as I agreed with them on removing the mad woman from the streets of Oslo, I did not want the police involved.

"Eric, as your PR-person I cannot have you call the police. I do not want to see you smeared out on all the front pages as someone girls seemingly catfight over."

Pam nodded, but Eric still said no.

"I`m used to being in the tabloids with all kinds of stories and I don't think people will give a shit about this one."

Pam made a noise with her nose, making it clear that she disagreed.

"Why are you in the tabloids in the first place?" I wanted to know. But Pam answered instead of Eric.

"My fine young brother here has been voted sexiest man in Norway five times in a row." Eric rolled his eyes at Pam. "And he has dated every female celebrity in this country. He is also charming, smart and rich. Why wouldn`t he be in the tabloids?"

Eric looked as if he couldn`t decide whether to be proud or embarrassed. The look on his face started a wave of giggles in my chest and even if it hurt like someone was standing with a salt shaker over my back, I couldn`t help laughing. Pam laughed too.

"I`m so glad that you can find amusement in my pitiful life." Eric rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I can imagine how dating one sexy woman after the other is the seventh plague," I teased Eric.

I wanted to get up because it`s rather awkward to be lying on your stomach when you make fun of people. But I was naked from my waist up and even if I could guess who had undressed me, I had no desire to have him seeing me topless while I was awake.

Pam luckily understood my predicament and came to my rescue when she handed me my bathrobe. Eric looked displeased.

"You really should let your wounds have air." He said while I put on the bathrobe.

"And you should press charges. I couldn`t care less if I have yet another front page. I`m thick skinned."

"I`m not, Eric. I dislike the front page I made already. I have my pride and if I am going to be taken seriously in my job, I can`t have too many headlines like this. So the answer is no."

Eric frowned.

"This is your choice, Sookie, and I can`t say that I like it." Then he smiled. "But it does give me an excuse to be your body-guard wherever you go. Next time you go dancing, it`ll be with me. "

I groaned. _Perfect_. Now I would have a 6-foot-4 blonde following me around, telling me to yield at any given moment.

"That doesn`t give you any reason to be in my room, though. Scoot! I need to put on some clothes."

And with that Pam and Eric reluctantly walked out. Pam was already out of my room when Eric turned around and looked at me.

"You know, Sookie, it isn`t the women in my life, but the life in my women that counts. And there hasn`t been much life up until a week ago." Then he was out the door.

Eric quoted Mae West? What was it with this man and great exits?

Xxxx

After I was dressed, I found Eric and Pam in the living room, playing cards of all things. They were hitting the table with their hands and shouting something I couldn`t make out. They were so into the game they didn`t notice me coming in.

I saw a pot of tea on the table and went to get a mug in the kitchen. When I came back and sat down on the couch, the card game was apparently over. There was no doubt about who had won because Pam was doing some kind of victory dance and Eric was pouting. His pout changed into a smile when he saw me.

"Now that we are three we can`t play this silly game anymore, Pam. Let`s put away the cards and play something else entirely. You like to play games, right Sookie?" He waggled his eyebrows and his question was so loaded with double meaning that I just rolled my eyes at him.

Eric jumped up and went to a cabinet and opened the door. Eric was apparently a happy gamer because he had stacks of board games. Most of them were totally unknown to me, but on top of all the games, I spotted something I recognized.

"How about a game of yahtzee?" I asked. Pam roared out in laughter and Eric was back to his pouting.

"Eric sucks at yahtzee, Sookie."

"How can anyone suck at yahtzee? Isn`t it just a game based on luck?" I asked.

"Well Eric doesn`t have any luck at all in games. Which is strange because those who are out of luck in games usually have luck in love. At least that`s a Norwegian superstition. And Eric definitely has no luck in love either." She looked at me and I almost knew what she was going to say so I braced myself with a stiff smile. "Up until now, that is." She winked at me.

There was an awkward silence before Eric pulled out a game from the cabinet.

"If I`m out of luck in games and love, I at least have some intelligence." He stared down Pam, who started to giggle teasingly. "So I suggest we play a game where the smartest person wins."

The game in his hands was Cluedo.

"This is unfortunately in Norwegian, but most of the cards are pictures and only the names are translated." Eric took the board game to the coffee table, opened it and before he had pulled out all the parts I went looking for `Miss Scarlet`.

"Ah, you like `_Frøken Rose_`," Eric commented.

"Is `_Frøken_` `Miss` in Norwegian?" I asked. I was getting curious about the Norwegian language and I had to learn it sooner or later. Might as well start with the characters in Cluedo, right?

"Yes, and `_Fru_` is `Mrs`. In the English version they mainly have color-names, but here they are named after flowers. `_Frøken Rose_` is `Miss Rose` as you might have guessed. I myself prefer to be `_Pastor Bregne_` or `Reverend Fern` as he would be in English. Pam is usually `_Fru Blåklokke_`- `Mrs Bluebell`."

Eric continued to translate the rest of the names and also taught me the Norwegian names of the rooms and the murder weapons. I figured I would do pretty well in any Norwegian conversation about murders by candle sticks (_lysestake_) in billiard rooms (_biljardrom_), but apart from that I would be lost. I made a mental note to check out classes in Norwegian as soon as possible. If I were to live and work in this country, even for a limited amount of time, I should learn the language.

I was not going to let Eric beat me in this game, but I soon found out that he wasn`t a push-over like my brother Jason. I could always fool Jason by pretending to ask for something I had myself, but Eric just smirked when I tried. So I decided to try and break his concentration by starting conversation.

"So why are the tabloids after you, Eric?" I asked him. He looked at me and I smiled inside when I saw that his chain of game-plans was broken. After a moment he answered me.

"We are only 4 million people in this country. They have to write about someone." He said and stared at his game-cards again.

"Do they write about you too, Pam?" I turned to her. She smiled.

"Only when I`m with big bro` here." She pinched Eric`s hip. "This is why I refuse to go out with him."

Eric looked up.

"Pam, you are perfectly safe when I wear my glasses and pull my hair from my face. No one ever recognizes me in disguise."

"I don`t understand why they write about Eric and not you," I asked.

"Sookie, I may be promiscuous, but I am far from Eric`s level." Eric received yet another pinch and looked less than happy. Pam was about to elaborate on the subject when Eric stood up so fast that _Frøken Rose_ jumped from the Conservatory to the Hall.

"Pam, would you please shut up. I cannot imagine that Sookie wants to hear about girls I may or may not have dated. You know as well as I that half the girls I have been engaged to, according to _Se&Hør_, are girls I may have given a friendly hug at the most. And so what if I have had a few lovers? It`s not as if I`m married or anything."

"Come on, Eric. Who peed on your porridge?"

I sat very quietly and observed. Sibling fights are not something you want to interfere in. Plus, this was actually quite entertaining. Unfortunately the show was soon over.

Pam decided to go to her room. I stood up to do the same, but Eric stopped me.

"Let`s finish the game, Sookie," he asked.

"Uhm, I don`t think we can play it without Pam."

"Then just sit here and I`ll tell you more about the woman who attacked you and why you should be careful around her."

This was how I got to know about Maryann, the spoiled daughter of a shipping-tycoon, who apparently couldn`t take no for an answer. Eric had been under the impression that her daddy had her well tucked away in Greece, but she was obviously back in Oslo.

"This means that I have to look after you at all times, here in Oslo, but also in Copenhagen at the Games Convention."

"Aren`t you afraid I`ll get an Eric-overdose?"

"No, I`m hoping that the more you see me, the more I`ll grow on you." Eric leaned close as if he was planning on growing on me that minute.

"Like a fungus?"

He laughed, but his eyes were fixed on me in a way that meant business.

Then my stomach decided to growl and the moment passed.

"You must be starving, _elsker_. Let me fix us something."

Before I knew it I was at the dinner table with filled crêpes in front of me. Ironically they were stuffed with mushrooms.

We had fun over dinner. No one could deny Eric`s charm, but all the girls in _Se&Hør_ were rumbling around at the back of my head. Bill was somewhere in my brain too. So when Eric tried to kiss me and asked me you yield to him yet again, I just smiled and said good night.

I must admit that I went to sleep with a smile on my lips. Going with Eric to Copenhagen would be more complicated than I preferred, but deep down I still welcomed the company. And so what if I did? One can enjoy a good laugh and some heavy flirtation without necessarily sleeping with the guy, right?

* * *

**A/N:**

*chants* Eric is going to Copenhagen, Eric is going to Copenhagen.

I hope you liked this chapter!

_God helg _(= Have a nice weekend)!

_PS: According to Wikipedia the game is called Cluedo, but it might also be known under the name Clue._


	10. Chapter 10

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 10**

**A/N:**

This story has the best readers one could want and I`m having so much fun reading reviews and PMs. Can you imagine getting a review saying "I just woke up to your story" and five minutes later I get one saying "I got your alert just before I fell asleep". It`s huge world we live in.

On that note, I want to say I`m sorry for not getting back to any of you. I have been in our cabin in the mountains all weekend and have enjoyed all the autumn colors. The snow is just around the corner and I wanted to see the colors before it all turns white. I wish I could send you a picture because it was incredible.

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** at the Alexander Skarsgård forum for being such a great support and friend and for doing wonders on my story.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_We had fun over dinner. No one could deny Eric`s charm, but all the girls in Se&Hør were rumbling around at the back of my head. Bill was somewhere in my brain too. So when Eric tried to kiss me and asked me you yield to him yet again, I just smiled and said good night. _

_I must admit that I went to sleep with a smile on my lips. Going with Eric to Copenhagen would be more complicated than I preferred, but deep down I still welcomed the company. And so what if I did? One can enjoy a good laugh and some heavy flirtation without necessarily sleeping with the guy, right?_

* * *

**Chapter 10:**

The next morning I was up early and before both Eric and Pam. I decided I needed some exercise as my body was pretty tense and my back was acting up after yesterday`s ordeal. Working in front of a computer isn`t exactly healthy for shoulders and back – being impaled on a fence didn`t help much.

I put on my running gear and had the street door open when I heard a stern voice behind me.

"Where are you going?"

I turned around and looked at Eric. "I`m going for a run." I stated the obvious.

"I thought we agreed that you weren`t going anywhere by yourself?" Eric was serious.

"You agreed I wasn`t going anywhere without you, but I need to run, Eric. I can`t just sit in this house all day."

"I never said you couldn`t go anywhere. Let me get my sneakers and I`ll run with you." Eric walked back to his room.

I almost snuck out. Running with someone is just not the same as running by yourself and I was afraid Eric would be too much of a distraction. Then Eric`s door opened again and he came out in a pink tank top and Lycra leggings stopping mid calf. When you've got a big guy wearing Lycra it doesn't leave a whole lot to the imagination. I resisted the temptation to ask Eric to turn around, but I couldn`t help staring. Eric fluttered his eyelashes at me. He was definitely enjoying my ogling.

The lycra leggings were pink and aqua, like the swirls down the sides of Jason's truck. I don't know where Eric got them; I didn't know any company made pink leggings in Men's X-tra Large Tall. Maybe pink sportswear for men was some Norwegian thing. Maybe all the men wore pink leggings here.

XXXX

Eric was actually not a bad running partner. He could obviously run much faster than I, his legs were twice the length of mine and had way more muscles, but he ran at a pace that fit mine and he even made me laugh between the panting.

Back home Eric went for the sauna. As I knew the dress code there, I turned down his offer to join him. I already knew what Eric looked like naked and seeing him as bare as Adam again, wouldn`t make it easier for me to keep the friendly distance I was determined to keep. A girl can only take so much temptation.

I took a cold shower, a very cold shower, and went to make some breakfast. I figured it was my turn to cook and started whipping up an omelet. When it was almost done, Eric poked his head through the doorway, hair wet, nostrils vibrating.

"Are you cooking breakfast?" He sounded surprised.

"I can`t have you doing all the cooking." I smiled to him.

"Is there something wrong with my cooking?" He looked worried.

"No, of course not. But I`m not used to someone cooking all my meals for me. I wanted to return the favor." That statement put a smile on Eric`s face.

"Wow. I don`t think I`ve ever had a girl cooking for me before. You are one of a kind, Sookie!"

Then he turned around, backed up a little more into the kitchen and revealed the fact that he was naked apart from a very short towel. He shook his butt in a way that made me think of a dog wagging his tail. I couldn`t help laughing.

XXX

When Eric came back to the kitchen, this time fully dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, the omelet was ready.

"Is Pam awake yet?" I asked.

"I honestly don`t know. She decided to sleep over at a friend`s. Belinda, I believe it was." He rolled his eyes and I tried to hide my shock. What was it with these siblings and all their lovers?

Eric started eating the omelet I had served him. He moaned in a way that made my cheeks go red.

"This is a great omelet Sookie."

"Thank you." I can be polite. And then maybe not. "What did you mean that no one has ever cooked for you before?" I asked.

"What I said. You have seen Pam. She couldn`t cook an egg if her life depended on it. Most girls are like that around here. They don`t have the passion for kitchen magic." He shrugged, then he put down his knife and fork and looked at me. "You know, Sookie, I`m starting to like you." He sounded sincere.

"Well, you have tried to make me yield from the day I came into your house." I teased him.

"Oh, I always hit on attractive girls. But for me to really like someone - it takes a whole lot more …." He searched for the right words. Then his smile was back on his face. "It takes this perfect omelet, for starters." Then he resumed his eating and his moaning.

"Eric. You really have your own way of making a girl feel special." I said in a voice heavily laden with sarcasm. That made him drop his knife and fork again and before I had time to remove my hands from the table, he grabbed one of them between his huge palms.

"Sookie, I would make you feel very special if you`d only let me." He actually looked serious.

I wanted to know why he would want to make me feel special. My omelet was good, but it wasn`t that good. But I never asked him. Sometimes it`s wise to only ask questions when you are sure what answer you are going to get.

After a brief struggle I regained my hand and kept it in my lap just to be on the safe side. I almost had to sit on my hand to prevent it from jumping back into the warmth of Eric`s.

Xxxx

After breakfast, I went to fetch my laptop. Eric came into the living room with his laptop too and started to switch it on.

"Aren`t you going to work today?" I asked him.

"Nope. Body-guard duty." He sat down.

"Does Maryann have a key to your house?" I asked. Eric shook his head. "Well, she can`t come in and I promise I won`t go out so you don`t have to stay here. I`m sure you have plenty of people waiting for you." Eric was actually starting to grow on me and I desperately needed an Eric-break to get my senses back.

"I do have a couple of meetings I would want to attend, but I`ll be home right after lunch."

"Take your time. I have plenty of work to do and you don`t have to babysit me."

Eric looked at me and then he stood up, grabbed his laptop and walked towards the door. He stopped and turned around with a wicked grin.

"Isn`t it an American custom for the little mrs. to give her man a kiss when he is off to work?"

I groaned.

Xxxx

I spent almost four hours on my laptop, partly going through Viking Games`s website and partly searching for a class in Norwegian. I had a quick bite to eat for lunch and was back staring at all the different websites promising me I would master Norwegian in just a couple of months. Just as I had filled out the form to make me an official student of the Norwegian language, the doorbell rang.

I got up, but wasn`t really sure what to do. I only knew two people in Norway, Eric and Pam, and I assumed they both had a key to the door. The doorbell rang again and I figured I could take a look. It might be the mailman or some delivery. I did grab an umbrella to defend me from any crazy women who might want to pick a fight with me.

Peering through the peephole, I saw a head I definitely hadn`t expected to see again. It had thick brown hair and a wolfish grin. Alcide. I opened the door.

He looked at the umbrella and then at me.

"Are you going out? It`s a lovely weather so you really shouldn`t have to bring an umbrella."

"No." I offered no explanation. Alcide cocked his eyebrow and there was an awkward silence. Then I remembered my manners.

"Welcome. Do you want to come in for a cup of coffee?" I asked.

"That would be great." Alcide came inside, carrying a small back pack. I had noticed that most Norwegian men carried a back pack when they walked around in the streets of Oslo, but it looked strange on Alcide for some reason.

I directed Alcide towards the couch and went to the kitchen to start the coffeemaker. When I came back to the livingroom, Alcide was half-way in his backpack.

"I came to give you this." He said, retrieving something from his bag. He was on his feet again and came towards me with something soft wrapped up in blue paper. The store logo was on the paper, but I didn`t know what kind of store _Glassmagasinet_ was.

I didn`t really know what to say so I just unwrapped the present and found a wrap very similar to the one I had forgotten at the club when I had met Alcide and his friend Debbie.

"I have looked all over for a wrap like the one you had the other day and I finally found one today on my lunch break." He flashed all 32 teeth at me.

I still didn`t know what to say, but I managed to squeeze out a "thank you" and a "you shouldn`t have". Luckily the coffeemaker made a sound that told me the coffee was ready and I ducked for cover in the kitchen. I took a couple of deep breaths and went back to Alcide with the coffee and a couple of mugs.

I sat down on the couch and just as I was wracking my brain to come up with something to talk about, I heard the door open.

"Honey, I`m hooome." Eric yelled.

* * *

A/N:

I hope you liked Eric`s running gear? Even I would consider running if he had been my running partner.

_Ha en fin uke!_ (Have a nice week!)


	11. Chapter 11

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 11**

**A/N:**

You guys really liked the Viking in his sports gear, huh? Your reviews were so great and I love each and every one of them :-D

Have you read all the amazing stories **Suki59** has posted? I had the honor of being her beta (which basically meant reading her story and saying "I love it" because it was perfect when I got it) on her entry to the Halloween contest, Samhain. The story put a smile on my face and melted my heart.

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** at the Alexander Skarsgård library forum for being such a great set of extra eyes. No Rascal = no story, it`s as easy as that.

This chapter is a bit on the short side (sorry), but I had to slice up the chapters here. Next chapter will be set in Copenhagen, Denmark.

* * *

**From the previous chapter**

_I didn`t really know what to say so I just unwrapped the present and found a wrap very similar to the one I had forgotten at the club when I had met Alcide and his friend Debbie. _

"_I have looked all over for a wrap like the one you had the other day and I finally found one today on my lunch break." He flashed all 32 teeth at me. _

_I still didn`t know what to say, but I managed to squeeze out a "thank you" and a "you shouldn`t have". Luckily the coffeemaker made a sound that told me the coffee was ready and I ducked for cover in the kitchen. I took a couple of deep breaths and went back to Alcide with the coffee and a couple of mugs. _

_I sat down on the couch and just as I was wracking my brain to come up with something to talk about, I heard the door open._

"_Honey, I`m hooome." Eric yelled. _

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Eric came into the living room with a huge smile on his face, which soon stiffened when he saw Alcide. He leaned against the wall and made no motions to go further into the room.

Eric and Alcide were both big men and the room seemed crowded all of the sudden. Maybe their egos were using up all the oxygen. Since none of them said anything, the silence was deafening. After some awkward minutes, I knew I was the one who had to break the ice.

"Alcide bought me a new wrap. Wasn`t that sweet of him?" I could have bit of my tongue hearing how silly I sounded.

"Yes, that was very sweet of Alcide." Eric didn`t find it sweet at all, but his statement put a smile on Alcide`s face. He stood up and went to shake hands with Eric.

"I`m Alcide. I met Sookie and your sister the other day," he said. I mentally kicked myself for not having introduced them.

"Eric," was all Eric offered as an answer.

There was an awkward silence and finally Alcide looked at his watch.

"It seems I need to get back to work. Maybe I could invite you out some day, Sookie," he said looking at me.

Eric stared holes in me and I felt like sticking my tongue out at him. I did it in a way by smiling at Alcide.

"That would be nice, Alcide. I`m going to Denmark the next couple of days, but we could go out next week, perhaps."

Alcide smiled, said his goodbyes and was out the door. Eric was still looking at me and he didn`t look pleased.

"I thought you were staying away from men until you had sorted out your relationship with Bill," he asked with an acid voice.

"Now don`t you go all judgmental on me, Mr. I`m-dating-everything-in-a-skirt." I was pissed. Who was he to bring in Bill?

"At least I`m not dating two men at the same time." He had a grim look on his face.

"It`s not like you have been too concerned about Bill these last couple of days. You have tried to bed me from the moment I walked into your house."

That got Eric to act. But he didn`t walk out the door, slamming it after him, as I would have expected (or as I would have done). He came over to the couch and sat next to me.

"Of course I have tried to bed you. I do that to good-looking women…"

"Oh, that`s a great excuse. You just go after anyone no matter if they are married, single or have 12 kids, but I cannot go out with anyone?"

Eric looked at me with serious eyes.

"I can honestly say that I have never had sex with anyone who had 12 kids." He tried to stay serious, but I could see the smile in his eyes. Then he blinked and it was gone. "Sookie, I`m not proud of everything I`ve done in my past and I do realize that you and I met at a bad time, but I like you. That`s just how it is. I like you." He took my hand. "And I`m not going to stop asking you to yield to me until you actually do." He flashed me his trademark smile.

I pulled my hand away. I wanted to ask him why he wanted me when he apparently could have any girl in Norway, but I just couldn`t.

"I`m flattered, Eric," I started to say. "But you got me, well you actually tricked me, over here to Norway to help you find Bill and that`s what I`m going to do. I`m also going to make sure Viking Games has excellent PR." I looked at Eric. "And that`s about all I can handle right now."

This was not the answer Eric was looking for.

"You say no to me, but yes to Alcide?" To say he looked surprised would be an understatement. Geez Louise, what was eating him?

"I can`t remember saying yes to marrying Alcide and moving into his little house with the white picket fence. I said yes to going out with him and there is nothing wrong with that. I don`t have many friends around here and I can`t hang on to yours and Pam`s apron tails forever."

That statement brought a smile to Eric`s face. "So you are only going out with him as friends?"

I rolled my eyes. Then I couldn`t help myself, a giggle started to build up deep in my stomach and even if I tried to keep it down, it was on my lips before I was able to control myself. Eric looked at me and then he started laughing too.

"That`s what I like about you," Eric said between laughs. "You can laugh even at an argument."

Xxxx

Eric and I worked in silence on our laptops for a few hours, then he went to the kitchen and I could hear the sound of pots and pans. I went out to him and saw him slicing some chicken meat while boiling water was screaming for the fresh pasta he had on the counter. I silently pushed him away from the chicken, took the knife and continued the slicing.

Eric poured pasta and a little oil into the boiling water and started heating up a pan with oil. When I had finished slicing the chicken, the pan was hot and Eric put the chicken into it. Then he gave me two avocadoes and without him telling me to, I opened them, removed the stone and sliced the avocado meat into smaller pieces.

We worked together in silence like that, Eric pushing things my way and me cutting it, slicing it or stirring the pan. When the chicken was almost done, he put an almost a full glass of pesto on the meat and I chopped some lettuce.

After 20 minutes of silent, but very enjoyable cooperation, Eric and I could sit down at the table with the loveliest pesto-pasta-chicken-salad and a glass of white wine. We were still silent, but it didn`t feel awkward. We gave each other little smiles and I may also have expressed my opinion on the food by slight moaning.

Afterwards we put our plates in the dishwasher and went back to the couch. Eric picked up the remote control for his TV and looked at me. I nodded and he turned the TV on. I can`t really be sure what we were watching because I just enjoyed the feeling of being at home and no longer a guest. Of course Eric`s house was not my home, but it felt like it that evening.

Soon I fell asleep leaning onto Eric`s shoulder. I remember vaguely being carried into my bed, my jeans being pulled down and my bra being removed from under my t-shirt. Eric apparently knew how uncomfortable bras were and didn`t want me to fall asleep in mine.

I got a chaste kiss on my lips and fell into a deep sleep smiling.

Xxx

It was five in the morning when I woke up. It felt as if I had had sunlight in my face for hours and the birds had also been singing for quite some time. Usually I would never get up at that time of day, but I was awake and I also realized that I hadn`t packed for today`s trip.

I got up, had a quick shower and started packing my things. When I was done packing it was only six-thirty, but I was hungry and went to the kitchen to get something to eat.

Eric was apparently still asleep and the teasing side of me got a great idea. I made some coffee, poured it in a mug and went towards Eric`s bedroom. I slowly opened the door and gasped silently when I saw him lying there on his back in only a pair of boxer shorts. I had seen him naked and half dressed before, but this was the first time I was able to admire what I saw.

I had planned to snuggle with him as a pay-back for when he brought me coffee in bed some days ago, but when I saw him, I knew that I couldn`t crawl into his bed. It would only lead to actions I just wasn`t ready for.

I stood there indecisive with the mug in my hands and my eyes on his torso when I suddenly realized that Eric was awake. His blue eyes were on me and a smile was on his lips.

"Are you going to give me that cup of coffee or do you need a few more minutes to admire my body?" He laughed.

I felt my cheeks redden and cursed my great idea of getting back at Eric`s snuggling. I quickly gave Eric his coffee and almost ran back to the kitchen.

I heard water run in the pipes and soon after Eric was also in the kitchen, hair dripping-wet. I decided to pretend my coffee-mess never happened and asked Eric when our plane was leaving. Eric had a smug smile when he answered that we would leave in an hour. We sat quietly for some time when he coughed a little.

"Is there any more coffee?" His blue eyes were on me.

* * *

**A/N:**

You just can`t win over people without modesty, can you?

I hope you liked this chapter!

_Ha en riktig god kveld!_ (Have a really nice evening!)

PS: Several of you have asked what _Se&Hør_ (the gossip magazine) means. It means See&Hear - or rather Look&Listen. They manage to publish a magazine with gossip two times a week. It`s amazing that they can find celebrities enough to write about in this tiny country with only 4 million people.


	12. Chapter 12

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 12**

**A/N**

Here is a long chapter. I wanted to divide it in two, but I just couldn`t. Hope you have the patience to read a long chapter – and to wait a liiiitle bit longer for the next one.

I have used some of my (and probably yours too) favorite parts from the books (and no, I don`t have any rights to anything, unfortunately) and I hope I managed to do them justice.

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** at the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum for encouraging both the story and this chapter – and for making it readable.

Did you see that **Suki59** entered another story to the Halloween-contest? It`s called **Dead Boys** and I am amazed at how she can just throw out one great story after the other. Being her beta is a walk in the park!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_I heard water run in the pipes and soon after Eric was also in the kitchen, hair dripping-wet. I decided to pretend my coffee-mess never happened and asked Eric when the plane was leaving. Eric had a smug smile when he answered that we would leave in an hour. We sat quietly for some time when he coughed a little. _

"_Is there any more coffee?" His blue eyes were on me. _

* * *

**Chapter 12:**

After a slow drive in his electric car, we were at the same airport I had landed at less than a week ago, believing I would live happily ever after with Bill. It seemed like ages ago. Now I was on my way to make Bill… I realized I wasn`t sure what our mission in Copenhagen was.

Eric had us checked in and we were through security when I asked him.

"We are going to Copenhagen to locate Bill, but what are we going to do when we and if we find him?"

Eric looked the other way for a moment.

"We actually need Bill to come back to Oslo with us." He finally said.

"WHAT??" I couldn`t believe him. For days he had wanted me to break up with Bill and now he wanted me to get Bill home?

"Bill stole a lot of our source code and I can`t think of any other way to make him give it back to us than to give him a job at Viking Games again. It is so far from what I want to do to Bill, but it`s the only way for Viking Games to recover the loss."

I was so mad, I kept my mouth shut to make sure I didn`t blurt out something I would later regret saying. I looked out the window when I suddenly felt Eric`s arm on my shoulders. I was pulled into his body.

"I`m sorry. I should have told you. You can still break up with Bill, of course, and I certainly hope you do. But I wish you could wait until we are back in Oslo. I want Bill to have as many incentives as possible to want to go with us." Eric actually looked embarrassed.

"This was what you brought me to Oslo for in the first place, right?" I escaped his embrace. "To be some honey trap for Bill?"

"Yes. We didn`t think we could just give Bill a great job offer to make him come back with us." Eric tried to grab my hands, but I put them in my pockets. "Actually we thought he wouldn`t even talk to us if we didn`t bring you along."

"So what was all this `yield to me`-crap you have been pulling?" I couldn`t believe what I was hearing and I was also mad at myself for never asking Eric about his plans for me.

"It was completely counterproductive, but I couldn`t help myself. I like you and I want you, Sookie." He held my head with both hands and looked me in the eyes. "I unfortunately also need you to save Viking Games and that means asking you to do something I don`t want you to do. If it wasn`t for Viking Games, I would just forget I ever had a weasel of an employee named Bill. As it is, I need to suck up to him and ask him to come work for me again." Eric looked mad.

We sat quietly on the plane and were in Denmark`s airspace in no time. I looked out the window and saw a country that looked the complete opposite of Norway. Where Norway had high mountains and deep fjords, Denmark was flat. And by flat I mean really flat. No mountains, no hills, not even a little top anywhere.

We landed in Copenhagen and Eric pulled us towards the Metro.

"The Copenhagen Metro was built just a couple of years ago. If you notice, there are no drivers on the trains. It`s pretty fancy and I wish we could have something like this in Oslo." Eric had transformed into my personal tour guide which was just fine by me since I was still chewing on the news he had given me earlier.

We arrived at the central train station in Copenhagen and Eric grabbed both of our bags and suitcases and walked us to a very tall hotel across the street. Radisson SAS Royal Hotel it said on the sign.

"This is the first designer hotel in the world," Eric said. "It was designed by the famous Danish designer Arne Jacobsen back in 1960 and was meant to reflect the sky. All the furniture and everything inside the hotel was made by Arne Jacobsen."

I nodded and smiled even if I had never heard the name Arne Jacobsen before. But when I went inside the hotel lobby, I knew what he meant by design. The whole hotel was in what I would have called `Scandinavian design` - something I had never liked. It was too sterile, too hospital for my taste. I liked table cloths, little knickknacks and pictures on the walls.

Eric checked us in while I looked around. When he came back, he handed me a key card and started carrying our luggage.

"We are on the top floor." He nodded towards the elevator. "It has a view all the way over to Tivoli."

My mind was still on what Eric wanted from me. I trusted Eric, for some reason, but I still felt a lot more cautious around him. Eric apparently took my silence very seriously and worked hard at breaking it down. He told me about Tivoli, which was a very old amusement park in the heart of Copenhagen, and without really realizing it, I had agreed to go there with Eric later that day.

At the 22nd floor Eric pulled our luggage and me out of the elevator. He went to the end of the corridor and put his key card in the hole. I looked at my key card, but the door number was not printed on it.

"Which room is mine?" I asked.

"You are here as well, Sookie," Eric stated as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Excuse me, Eric. I can`t stay in the same room as you."

Eric turned around in the doorway and flashed me a smile.

"Don`t worry, Sookie. This is a suite. You`ll have your own room and we even have a living room."

He was right. It was the hugest hotel room I had ever seen. Of course it would be since I had never stayed in a hotel suite before. It was beautiful and the view was spectacular. I could see the Ferris wheels and rollercoasters of Tivoli and I suddenly looked forward to going there. With Eric. I must have been out of my mind.

Xxxx

I unpacked my bags, cleaned my face and applied a little lip gloss. Eric knocked on my door and I came out to see that he and I were almost dressed alike. We were both wearing a white sleeveless shirt and blue jeans. We laughed a little over the coincidence and soon we were on our way to the convention area of the hotel. We signed in and went looking for the stand operated by Lorena`s company, Bill`s new employer.

I went over to the stand alone as we figured it would confuse Bill to see Eric and me together, and I braced myself to see Bill again. It was a huge stand so it took me some time to check every corner for the man I had once thought was the love of my life. After some time I realized that he wasn`t there and was surprised that I actually felt relief. I asked a young guy at the stand who first didn`t even know who I meant and then said that Bill wouldn`t be back before the next day.

I went back to Eric and told him what had happened and witnessed relief on his face as well. None of us apparently wanted to deal with Bill.

I knew I had to take the bull by its horns and flipped out my cell phone and pressed Bill`s number. Eric didn`t look too pleased, but he never said anything. He did give me a warm smile when Bill never answered and I hung up.

"Now it`s time for Tivoli, it seems." The little kid inside the big Eric jumped up and down and even in my more apprehensive state, I couldn`t help cheering with him.

Eric grabbed my hand before I could tuck it away in the safety of my pockets and I soon relaxed having Eric`s large, warm hand surround my small one.

Xxx

Tivoli was like nothing I had ever seen before. The first thing that struck me was the mixture of old and new. One could almost see how ladies in corsets and long dresses met with men in suits and ties a century ago. Eric told me about the little ballet that was played a couple of times every day year in, year out, always with Harlequin, Pierrot and Columbine.

Eric and I walked around hand in hand and the park was so romantic, I for the first time, wished I could just yield to Eric, heart and body. Of course that wasn`t going to happen anytime soon, with everything being so uncertain.

Eric and I took a few cute little rides, among them a rollercoaster that, according to Eric, was at least 150 years old. Then he got a devilish look in his eyes and started pulling me towards `Dæmonen`- The Demon.

"You aren`t a chicken, are you?" He teased me and I of course had to say no.

Before I knew it I was in the worst rollercoaster ride I had ever taken. Before the ride started, I had agreed with myself that I would not give Eric the satisfaction of hearing me scream. I would only laugh and smile and be so cool throughout the ride.

Apparently my body does not remember agreements when it`s hanging upside-down or going through cobra rolls because I screamed from start to end. In the deepest drop, I felt Eric`s hand on my lap, squeezing it slightly.

I had trouble standing on my feet when the ride ended. Eric pulled me close to his body and had his strong arms around me. Before I knew what was happening, he had his lips on mine and gave me a deep kiss, which didn`t help my sense of balance any.

We went down the stairs and passed a booth that sold pictures from the ride. Eric went over there.

"Just go find a place to sit down and I`ll buy the cute picture taken of us together."

I didn`t really want to sit down and felt like getting an ice cream instead. I don`t know if it was the loss of Eric`s sweet kiss or the heat in my body that made me crave something cold and sweet, but I soon found myself in the line at the ice cream stand.

I looked over the menu and was surprised to see an ice cream called `Amerikaner`. I asked the ice cream-seller if it did mean `American` and she confirmed it.

"It`s huge, you know, because we think everything is big in the USA." She smiled and I ordered one with chocolate and pistachio. I had a small shock when the ice cream-seller also put whipped cream, a chocolate cream bun and something she called `guf` on it.

"Do you want jam on it as well?" She asked me with a smile. I shook my head. I was pretty sure I would never be able to eat the icecream as it was.

Just as I was paying the modest sum of 35 Danish kroner for a week`s ration of calories, I spotted a brown-haired head I knew too well on the other side of the ice cream stand. I quickly picked up my `Amerikaner` and started running.

He was far away, but I ran as fast as a person possibly can with a huge ice cream in her hand. Just as I was in shouting range of him, and my mouth was starting to form the word "Bill", I saw a woman with dark hair close in on him and pull her hand around his waist. I stopped in my tracks.

As if Bill felt my presence, he started to turn around. My gut reaction was to run backwards almost as fast as I had been running forwards just seconds before. The only thing about running backwards is that you, at least if you aren`t lucky enough to be born with eyes in the back of your head, can`t see where you`re running.

My left calf felt the obstacle first and then my right calf smacked right into it too. When you are falling it often feels like time is standing still and you are going down in slow-motion. This was why I had all the time in the world to consider why I suddenly felt a strong hand on the back of my head and on my shoulders.

I fell hard, but didn`t hurt my head on the asphalt I had landed on. The reason was lying on top of me. Eric had apparently seen me fall and had managed to protect my more vital parts from the fall, but had gone down too.

"I knew I would get on top of you somehow," he said while making some improper moves with his hips.

"Are you trying to make me mad at you so I`ll forget the pain from the fall?"

"No, I`m just opportunistic."

I wiggled, trying to get out from under him, and he said, "Oh, do that again. It felt great."

Then even Eric felt the embarrassment of lying on the ground, him on top of me.

"No excuse to linger," Eric said with a mock sigh, and lifted off of me. He looked down at himself and I noticed that half of my ice cream was on his shoulder.

"Oh shit, Eric." I got to my knees with clumsy haste. "You have ice cream all over you!" The ice cream was starting to drip and soon his white shirt would be green and brown. I secretly thanked myself for saying no to the jam on the ice, but truth be told a little red wouldn`t really make that big a difference on the mess.

Eric looked down at his shoulder. "Lick it up."

"What?" I gaped at him.

"If you don't lick it up, it will drip down and ruin my shirt. If you are so squeamish, go get a napkin and wipe it off."

"But I can't do that."

He smiled at me. "I took this fall for you. You can lick up some ice cream."

I stood up on my toes. The ice cream had started to run, and soon it would make some major damage to Eric`s nice shirt. I sighed in resignation.

I managed to lick all the ice cream off his shoulder. Eric gave a long moan as I licked and I wasn`t really sure how I felt about that. When I was finished, he looked at me.

"Your lips are full of ice cream." He seized my face in both hands and kissed me.

It's hard not to respond when a master of the art of kissing is laying one on you. And I might have let myself enjoy it—well, enjoy it more—if I hadn't just seen Bill.

But I had just seen Bill, and I was shocked by him being so close to him and yet so far away, so I pulled away from Eric`s kiss. Eric's lips were green and brown from the ice cream now. He licked them slowly.

When we started walking, I felt a slight pain in the back. As most people who spend their days in front of the computer, I have had my brushes with shoulder and back pain. The fall, even with Eric`s save, hadn`t improved things.

"I have to get back to the hotel," I told Eric.

He looked at me and when he saw the pain in my eyes, he gently laid his hand on my shoulder and guided me through Tivoli and back to the hotel.

Xxxxxx

Eric fixed me a gin and tonic that was way stronger than any gin and tonic I had ever tasted. We were sitting in the living room of our suite and Eric had just convinced me of the wisdom of drinking and consuming pain killers when one has severe back pain. Muscles would be less tense and the back pain wouldn`t accelerate.

I took the drink and the pills and soon felt a happy buzz in my head. I am not a heavy drinker and on top of it, I was drinking on a half-empty stomach. The `Amerikaner` may have been huge, but I hadn`t really had that much of it. And I suppose it wouldn`t be what Gran would call a full meal anyway.

Eric ordered room service and when I had eaten my share, I figured I would go lay down. It wasn`t really evening yet, but my back was screaming for a stretch out and my eyes wanted a little nap.

Unfortunately my back gave out a weird noise when I tried to stand up and the pain made me scream worse than in `Dæmonen`. I couldn`t move and I couldn`t walk or unbend my back.

Eric was at my side and before I could refuse his touch, he had me in his arms Rhett Butler-style. I had expected more of the pain, but Eric had picked me up so fast my back hadn`t had time to complain.

"Rhett and Scarlet," I said.

"I don't understand," Eric told me.

"You haven't seen _Gone with the Wind_!" I was horrified. But then, why should a Norwegian Game company manager have seen that staple of the Southern mystique?

"You'll have to watch it on video."

Eric put me on the bed, very carefully. I had to lie on my side since by back was still bent in a sitting position.

"I`m going to call for a chiropractor to fix that back of yours," Eric said and he was out of the room before I could protest. I dosed off which was probably the best thing I could do in my current state of pain.

When I woke up, Eric was getting up from the chair in the corner of my room. Then I heard the knock on the door again and Eric opened. In came a man with a long, horsy face, blond eyebrows and eyelashes that were almost invisible against his pallor.

"Miss Stackhouse, I`m Ray Don," the man said. "I`m a chiropractor and I`ll have that back of yours fixed in no time. I understand that you had a fall, but back pains like this are usually caused by stress and the fall may just have been the last drop." He smiled reassuring.

"How de do." Good manners would make you welcome anywhere, my gran had always told me.

Ray Don directed Eric to sit at the headpost and to hold my head while he started to push and pull on my legs and hip. My back made bone-breaking noises, but I actually felt relief from the pain.

Then he gave Eric a look that told me something awful was going to happen.

"Sookie, I am going to use my elbows to put pressure on some areas in your hips. It is going to be very painful, but it has to be done." He gave me a stern look. Then he turned to Eric and said something in what was probably Danish. Eric nodded and held my head and shoulders tight. I grabbed hold on Eric`s wrists. The Big Bad Thing was coming.

"Look at me," Eric demanded. "Look at me, Sookie."

I felt the bed indent, and I assumed Ray Don was kneeling beside it and leaning over to my hip.

I felt the blood leave my face and hysteria bubbling up in my throat.

"Don't, Sookie! Look at me!" Eric said urgently.

I looked down to see that Ray Don had his elbow situated on my hip and he pushed hard.

I screamed over and over, until I didn't have the energy. I met Eric's eyes as I felt Ray Don's elbow go down on another painful place on my hip. Eric was holding my hands and I was digging my nails into him like we were doing something else. He won't mind, I thought.

And sure enough, he didn't. "Let go," he advised me, and I loosened my grip on his hands. "No, not of me," he said, smiling. "You can hold on to me as long as you want. Let go of the pain, Sookie. Let go. You need to drift away."

It was the first time I had relinquished my will to someone else. As I looked at him, it became easy, and I retreated from the suffering and uncertainty.

xxxxx

The next thing I knew, I was awake. I was tucked in the bed, lying on my back, my jeans and shirt removed. I was still wearing my underwear, which was good. Eric was in the bed with me, which was not. He was really making a habit of this. I was on my back and he was lying on his side, his arm draped over me, one leg thrown over mine. His hair was tangled with my hair, and the strands were almost indistinguishable, the color was so similar. I contemplated that for a while, in a sort of misty, drifting state.

Eric was asleep and only wearing silk boxers.

I started to move my legs and my hips to check if I was still in one piece. I was still in pain, but it was greatly reduced.

"How are you feeling?" Eric asked, and I gasped. I hadn't felt him wake up.

"Thank you, Eric." I didn't care for how shaky I sounded, but an obligation is an obligation.

"For what?" His hand gently stroked my stomach.

"For getting the chiropractor for me."

"You are welcome" he whispered, his mouth hovering over mine. His eyes were very alert now, and his gaze was boring into mine.

His mouth was on mine then. Try as I might to stay detached, I wasn't too successful. For one thing, Eric had a lot of practice. Up until now, I had considered all the women Eric had dated as something negative, but for the first time I actually saw them as an asset. His kissing technique was out of this world.

I snuck my hands up to his shoulders, and I am ashamed to say I responded to his kiss. As sore and tired as my body was, it wanted what it wanted, and my mind and will were running far behind.

I kissed him with the passion and little practice I had in me. I kissed him and forgot all my reservations. All the ladies in Eric`s life, Eric`s plans for me and even Bill were all lost in the kiss.

Eric had his hands all over my body and my hands were on his. I could feel the muscles work on his shoulders and let my hands slide further down. Eric`s hands had the same desire to travel south and they slipped under the elastic of my panties and soon I felt a finger inside me and a thumb working miracles on the outside.

I made a loud sound and it wasn`t the sound of pain and certainly not of rejection. I spread my legs wider to give him access and just enjoyed what he was giving me, which was pure pleasure. I started getting light headed and soon my orgasm just washed over me accompanied by a deep moan and a few muscle spasms.

Afterwards I just lay there with closed eyes, panting.

"Look at me, elsker," Eric whispered.

I was almost afraid of opening my eyes, afraid of seeing Eric looking smug or full of himself. But I did open my eyes and all that met me was pure happiness staring down at me. Eric smiled a smile so full of joy, I would almost have thought it was he who had just had the orgasm of his life.

"Come here," I whispered and pulled him down for another kiss. Now that I had already waved all of my senses goodbye, I might as well do it properly.

It made totally sense to me when I suddenly heard Elvis sing `Love me Tender`, but Eric pulled away from the kiss.

"It`s your phone, elsker," he whispered.

I looked at him. My phone? My ringtone wasn`t Elvis, it was a standard ringtone. Then it dawned upon me.

"You changed my ringtone?"

"I couldn`t find a ringtone saying `Yield to me`. This was the best I could do." He smiled.

I jumped out of the bed and grabbed my phone. I stared at the display and sighed. Bill.

"Hello?" I answered. What else could I say?

* * *

**A/N:**

I`m so sorry to all you book lovers that I gave Sookie an orgasm. I have tried hard to follow the spirit of the books, but I just had to part from the books here. My fingers kept writing and they wouldn`t leave Sookie unsatisfied. Now my fingers are suffering from intense nail biting instead….

_Håper du likte det?_ (hope you liked it?)

PS. I will have my own submission to the Halloween-contest out shortly. I hope you like that one too :-D Eric is a vampire, Sookie a telepath and the vampires are not out of the coffin. And where it takes place? Oh, in my back yard, of course....


	13. Chapter 13

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 13**

**A/N: **

You had a really long chapter 12. Here is a short chapter 13. I just wanted to get you something since the wait has been longer than planned (sorry!).

I spent all my writing-time on my entry for the Eric and the Great Pumpkin-contest. It`s called **Winter Vampire** and is about falling in lust and then falling in love. Yes, I`m shamelessly plugging it *bats eyes*.

Thank you for all your great reviews! You are the best readers a girl could have. I even got a great recipe (I`ll be trying it on Friday – yay!).

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** for reading through this in spite of network problems and headaches *kisses headache away*.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

"_It`s your phone, elsker," he whispered. _

_I looked at him. My phone? My ringtone wasn`t Elvis, it was a standard ringtone. Then it dawned upon me._

"_You changed my ringtone?" _

"_I couldn`t find a ringtone saying `Yield to me`. This was the best I could do." He smiled._

_I jumped out of the bed and grabbed my phone. I stared at the display and sighed. Bill._

"_Hello?" I answered. What else could I say?_

* * *

**Chapter 13:**

"Sookie?"

"Yes, it`s me."

There was a moment of quiet.

"You called me earlier today, Sookie. Has anything happened? I mean, it`s great to hear from you, but we usually talk online and not on the phone."

"Where are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean where are you? I went to Oslo to find you, but you weren`t there."

Bill went quiet again.

"You went to Oslo?"Bill was clearly surprised. He needed some time to process that piece of news, but then he continued in his normal voice. "I got a new job and I`m in Copenhagen now."

I wanted to shout `why didn`t you tell me?` or `why haven`t I heard from you`, but I used the most neutral voice I had. "I know. I`m in Copenhagen too. Can we talk?"

That caught him off guard, but he said yes and when I offered to come to his room, he said yes to that as well. We hung up and I stood still for some time. A week ago, I would have been thrilled by the prospect of meeting Bill in a hotel room in Copenhagen. Now… now I had his boss waiting for me in my bed expecting us to continue what we started before Bill called.

As if Eric could read my mind, I had an arm snaking its way around my waist, pulling me towards the bed. I was tempted, but it just wouldn`t be right, so I pushed the arm down.

"We can`t do this, Eric," I said.

"Of course we can, Sookie." His arm was back on my waist, but this time without the pulling.

I turned around and looked at him. "Bill is here," I said. "And no matter what we just did, I need to talk to him." Eric growled. Then he got up and came over to me and gave me a big hug while inhaling deeply into my hair. He rubbed his groin slightly against me, giving me a close feel of what I was saying no to.

Then he went to the bathroom where I could hear some distinct sounds of pleasure. I was dressed when he came out again, sporting a satisfied smile. I gave him a quick hug and was going to turn away when Eric pulled me closer and started to kiss my neck, his teeth gently scraping my skin.

"Don`t kiss me," I whispered and removed myself from his embrace. I couldn`t have sex with Eric just because I found him attractive. I was an adult, I told myself sternly; true adults don`t have sex just because the other person is skilled and pretty.

"I`m going down to Bill`s room and I`ll try to make him believe things are fine between us and then I`m giving him an offer from you. Hopefully he`ll be on the plane home with us tomorrow," I said.

"That`s probably the worst plan I`ve ever heard. What if Bill wants to celebrate seeing you again?" Eric made quotation marks with his fingers when he said `celebrate`.

"You are right that the plan isn`t perfect, but that`s what I have right now." Even I didn't know what I would do if Bill wanted to get reacquainted physically.

Xxx

I knocked on Bill`s door and was shocked when he opened. He was much thinner and paler than when he had left Louisiana. His dark hair had lost its glow and he looked like he had been denied sleep. He stared at me, then pulled me into a deep embrace.

"Sookie," he said with a hoarse voice. "I`ve missed you."

His embrace felt like home and for a few moments I lost myself into it. Then I pulled away.

"Why are you here, Bill? What happened?"

Bill looked embarrassed. He signaled with his hand to the chair and I sat down. Bill sat on the edge of his bed.

"It`s a long story, Sookie. To make it short, I was tricked by someone I owed a favor and now I`m stuck in a job I don`t want and with no way of getting out of it."

"Who is this someone?"

Bill looked away. "It`s someone who helped me through school and made me the programmer I am today. When I was approached to help this someone, I had to say yes."

I noticed that Bill never said anything that would reveal the gender of `this someone`. I of course knew that it was a woman and that her name was Lorena, but I wanted Bill to say it.

"What is `this someone`s` name?"

Bill looked like he was going to faint and he whispered "Lorena".

"Lorena?" I tried to keep my voice neutral, but it did have a high pitch to it.

Bill took my hands.

"I`m so glad you are here now. I just can`t believe it." He smiled at me, but I noticed how he had changed the subject. I decided not to push it further – at least not right now. Knowing more about his relationship with Lorena wasn`t really high on my list of favorite topics.

"You say you were tricked. What is keeping you here?" I asked him.

"I don`t really have anywhere to go. No one will hire me."

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Bill opened it and in entered the other topic I really didn`t want to discuss with Bill.

Eric.

Xxxx

Watching Eric and Bill was like watching Animal Planet. There was no doubt as to who was the dominant and who was the submissive of the two. But like an annoying terrier, Bill couldn`t just acknowledge Eric`s superiority.

"Eric," he said with ice in his voice.

"Bill." Eric gave Bill a short look, telling him that he wasn`t important. Then his eyes met mine.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay, Sookie." I was going to answer him, but Eric`s remark apparently got the bark out in the dog that didn`t have the nerve to bite.

"Of course Sookie is okay with me. She is MY girlfriend."

"I wouldn`t be too sure about the personal pronouns, Bill. It seems to me that Sookie is her own person."

I couldn`t handle any more of this male pissing contest so I exited the room without running. I would have preferred to have thrown out the two guys and just crept under the sheets, but since this was Bill`s room, I figured I could take the lift up to the top floor and go to sleep in my own bed. Preferably for a couple of weeks until everything had blown over.

Xxx

I actually did fall asleep and I slept well. When I woke up, I realized that I had only half an hour until the breakfast buffet closed, so I just jumped into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, brushed my hair, and ran to the lift.

When the doors opened, Eric walked out looking great as ever. There should be a law against meeting handsome men before you have had your morning cup of coffee.

"Bill agreed to come work for me again. I gave him an offer he couldn`t refuse. And him seeing you again also did the trick. It was a wise choice to bring you over from Louisiana," Eric said with a smile.

"That`s great, but can we talk about it later? I would really love to have some breakfast." _And I would also prefer not to discuss Bill with _you, I thought.

I tried to get past him and into the lift before the doors closed, but no such luck.

"I`ve ordered you breakfast in your room. Well, actually I ordered breakfast in bed for you, but you seem to have ruined that part by getting up." Eric looked at me. "Maybe I can persuade you to get undressed and get back under the covers?" Eric wiggled his eyebrows.

"Eric. About that… " I didn`t want to use the worn out phrase `let`s forget about what happened` because I definitely knew I couldn`t. "I can`t… we can`t…"

"Don`t worry, Sookie." Eric had his arm around me and for a few seconds, I leaned into him. Then I walked back to the suite, hoping breakfast would be there soon.

* * *

**A/N:** Oh, I hate writing Bill. Can you tell? I was going to let Sookie and Bill have a major talk, but I figured 1, Sookie would never have the talk and 2, I would just hate writing Bill`s side of the conversation. Luckily a huge Viking decided to knock on the door!


	14. Chapter 14

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 14**

**A/N: **

Oh, I`ve kept you waiting way too long. This chapter wasn`t easy to write and I apologize in advance for the end. This is not something I enjoy writing about, but it needs to be there. You know I`m taking things from the books and the books aren`t all flowers and candy (flowers and candy will come later ;-D).

Thank you again for the great response to this story – and also to my one-shot "Winter Vampire". I can`t tell you how happy you make me with your reviews, PMs, alerts and favorites.

Also thank you to **Rascalthemutant** at the Alexander Skarsgård Library forum for reading this and making great suggestions. Hope you end up with nice tiles!

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

_I tried to get past him and into the lift before the doors closed, but no such luck._

"_I`ve ordered you breakfast in your room. Well, actually I ordered breakfast in bed for you, but you seem to have ruined that part by getting up." Eric looked at me. "Maybe I can persuade you to get undressed and get back under the covers?" Eric wiggled his eyebrows. _

"_Eric. About that… " I didn`t want to use the worn out phrase `let`s forget about what happened` because I definitely knew I couldn`t. "I can`t… we can`t…"_

"_Don`t worry, Sookie." Eric had his arm around me and for a few seconds, I leaned into him. Then I walked back to the suite, hoping breakfast would be there soon._

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Eric had a smug smile on his face after he had checked in Bill, himself and me in the airport in Copenhagen. When we waited at the gate to board the plane, I realized what had made him smile. A stolen glance at the boarding passes and I knew that Eric had situated himself and me next to each other in first class and Bill way back in the plane.

I memorized Bill`s seat number and when we were on the plane, I quickly took his seat and told him to sit in mine. I cringed when he winked at me because it was definitely not my intention to make him think I was trying to get away from Eric. Or at least I wasn`t only trying to get away from Eric. I just wanted to be alone.

After we had landed and retrieved our suitcases, Eric told Bill to take the train into town.

"Why can`t I ride with you and Sookie?" Bill pouted.

"Because my THiNK-car only has two seats. And they are reserved for Sookie and me."

Bill looked at me. "What if Sookie prefers to take the train?"

I was actually going to suggest that, but now I wouldn`t give up my seat in Eric`s car for Santa Claus and the Pope.

"Actually, Bill, I`m riding with Eric." That answer made Eric wink at me. It seemed that no matter what I did, one of the two would be gloating. Maybe I should just paint myself gold since I was such a prize?

Eric and I got into the car and he started driving at the slow pace the electric car allowed him.

"Had it occurred to you," he said, after we'd rolled out of the airport parking lot, "that you just walked away now that things between you and Bill have become rocky? You didn`t stop to talk to him or sort things out. Not that I mind, necessarily, since I would be glad for you two to sever your association. But if this is the pattern you follow in your romantic attachments, I want to know now."

I thought of several things to say, discarded the first few, which would have blistered my grandmother's ears, and drew a deep breath.

"Firstly, Eric, what happens between Bill and me is just none of your damn business." I let that sink in for a few seconds. "Second, my relationship with Bill is the only one I've ever had, so I've never had any idea what I'm going to do even from day to day, much less establishing a policy." I paused to work on phrasing my next idea. "Third, I'm through with men. I'm tired of this."

Eric waited to see if I'd finished. I cast a quick glance over at him, and the sun illuminated his strong profile with its knife-edge nose. At least he wasn't laughing at me. He wasn't even smiling.

He glanced at me briefly before turning his attention back to the road. "I'm listening to what you say. I can tell you mean it."

A mile of silence went by. I was pleased Eric was taking me seriously.

"You are spoiled for other men," Eric said all of the sudden. His slight Norwegian accent was more apparent.

I looked out my window. He may very well be right. The little taste of him I got in Copenhagen didn`t exactly make me want to run to someone else. But I couldn`t just throw myself at Eric either. He was too complicated and I couldn`t handle getting involved with him just now.

"Maybe I am. But maybe I`ll be happier on my own."

Eric didn`t like that. He opened his mouth to say something and closed it again. Another mile went by and the little car was filled with tension.

"Bill is going to stay in my house. I can`t trust him to be on his own." That statement earned him a loud sigh from me. So I was going to stay in a house with Bill, my ex-boyfriend (only he didn`t know it yet) and Eric my hmmm, the guy who gave me an orgasm yesterday? And I didn`t want complicated.

"Maybe I should ask Pam if I could stay with her?" I offered.

"You will do no such thing. I want you to stay in my house as well."

"So you don`t trust me either?" I had to tease him a little. It was getting a little too tense in the car. Eric smiled.

"Bill isn`t going to be staying with us for long, anyway. My deal with him was that he is going to fix what he messed up and then I`ll help him get a job somewhere in America. He might think I meant USA when I said America, but I was thinking Chile or maybe Peru. That`s America – and it`s almost as far away as I would like him to be. I would have preferred the Easter Islands, but there are no computer game businesses there." Eric looked at me. "I checked."

"So Bill is going to stay in my house for a month. Tops." Eric smiled.

Xxxx

When we were at the end of September, Bill was still in Eric`s apartment and so was I. Days were getting shorter, nights were getting colder and I was, strangely enough, starting to feel at home in Norway. Even when I came out one morning and saw people defrosting their cars - in September - I just smiled.

I had enrolled in a Norwegian-class. A whole new world opened up to me when I could read the local papers. I started out reading the tabloids since they kept their vocabulary simple and their sentences short, but lately I had also been able to understand most of what was written in the more serious _Aftenposten_.

I didn`t understand anything when Norwegians talked to each other, mainly because of all the different dialects people were talking in, but I picked up most of what they said when they spoke slowly to me.

I could say some simple sentences in Norwegian, even if it did make people around me laugh from time to time. Like when I forgot to use the Norwegian word for "pull" and used the English one instead, only realizing that it means "fuck" when my colleagues laughed themselves silly. And "pick" of course had to mean "cock" which I learned when I said "take your pick" to someone not very fluent in English and witnessed him turning red.

But then I got a nice laugh myself when one of my colleagues was trying to justify (in English) the way he drove his car, by saying "It isn`t the fart that kills you, it`s the smell." I, of course, had learned that "_fart_" meant "speed" in Norwegian and "_smell_" meant "crash". But it was still hilarious.

I liked my job. I had the freedom to make great PR, I had the resources to back me up and I had perfect colleagues. It seemed everyone was pulling (in English, not Norwegian) in the same direction and no one was trying to further their career at the expense of the company.

No one apart from Bill, that is. Bill was a constant nuisance at work and it didn`t help that I lived with him too. At work he was constantly complaining about everyone and pointing to his own brilliance. Privately he was always complaining about Eric and telling me how much he loved me.

I went out on a few dates with Bill. He had been my boyfriend the last two years, after all. But I preferred for us to go to the movies because at least he couldn`t talk there.

I was getting pretty tired of Bill always calling Eric a womanizer, even if I couldn`t help wondering if it was true. Bill asked me to be careful around Eric and tried to convince me that the only thing Eric could ever want from a girl was to get in her pants. I never told him that Eric, or at least his hand, had already been in my pants.

I did go out with Eric too, but I always kept a safe distance. Even if Eric had been a monk all his life and other women weren`t an issue, I didn`t want to pursue anything with Bill around.

Eric did take me out on some amazing dates, like when he took me to a concert with the Norwegian band Superfamily.

"This is the best live band in Norway," Eric said with a voice thick with enthusiasm just when the band started playing. Superfamily sang in English, to my surprise. Eric explained that most Norwegian bands did, but this was the only one who had a good reason. The singer was American.

Eric had us in front on a small platform, him behind me. When the concert started, his hands were around my waist and I couldn`t help leaning back into his warm body. We half-danced, half-swayed to all the songs and every title seemed to be a message from Eric to me.

When they sang "I Could be a Real Winner", he hummed it into my ear, he kept doing that to "Let`s Go Dancing" and when "It`s a Lie" was song, it felt like a comment on everything Bill had been telling me. Superfamily`s last number was "The Radio has Expressed Concerns about Where You Were Last Night" which had Eric whispering in my ear.

"I`m concerned about where you are every night – and last night too." He kissed my ear.

I had actually been on a date with Alcide the night before, which would make him the third guy I was dating simultaneously. It was pretty innocent, though.

Alcide spent all our dates on pining for Debbie, who apparently had broken up with Alcide and gotten engaged to some guy who looked like an owl (according to Alcide).

Bill spent all his time on pining for me, but I couldn`t forget Lorena – not to mention the fact that he was apparently just going to write me off without even notifying me. Had Lorena treated Bill better, I`m sure I would never had heard a second thing from him.

Eric was sweet, intelligent, hot as hell and fun to be with. Eric was the perfect date, if one could forget all the other women he was dating. Not that I could complain of course, since I was dating several guys myself. And I never saw the other girls, just noticed that he was gone a couple of nights a week. Given his track record, I assumed he was making a lot of girls happy.

To sum it up, my professional life had never been better and my personal life never more confusing. The worst part was that I didn`t know how to simplify things. I could of course stop dating any or all of the three men, but Alcide was fun and needed someone to talk to, I felt I owed Bill a few dates after having been his girlfriend for so long.

And Eric… I just couldn`t say no to Eric. It was as easy as that. And as difficult.

Xxxx

Pam was the one to stop all this dancing around. One day at the end of September, she came to Eric`s house, announcing that she was giving a dinner party. Eric would do the cooking and she had invited two people, in addition to the four of us. She wouldn`t say who, but when the doorbell rang, Alcide and Debbie were outside. Bill, Eric and I all groaned. Bill and Eric apparently because of Alcide, I because of Debbie.

Even if Debbie was the love of Alcide`s life, I didn`t like her. Although now she was seeing someone new, she was still jealous towards anyone getting close to Alcide and I was her number one enemy. I had been getting my share of catty comments and wasn`t too pleased with having to spend an evening with her.

But when I saw Alcide`s eyes when he looked at her, I decided to keep my mouth shut and smile. Alcide was a good friend and I would do my best to accept the girl he was so clearly in love with.

Apparently seeing Debbie also brought some peace to Bill and Eric. I could almost hear them crossing out one competitor from the list. Somehow that left them staring at each other.

"Come on in and have a glass of wine." Pam was being the perfect hostess and Eric went back to the kitchen.

I was soon in his footsteps, both to get away from Debbie and Bill for a minute, but also because the kitchen smelled wonderful.

"What are you making?" I inhaled.

"Actually I`m making something from your parts of the world. Chicken Pot Pie, it`s called." He pointed at the oven where I could see the huge pie getting a nice brown color.

"Aaaw, Eric. Now you have me thinking of my late grandmother."

"Oh, I`m sorry." Eric looked worried and had his arm around my waist and gave the top of my head a kiss.

"Don`t worry, Eric." I had to close my eyes for a second because they were all teary. "I love remembering my grandmother. She meant a lot to me. And she did make a great Chicken Pot Pie. But as far as I can smell, yours is right up there with Gran`s. I`m impressed!"

I asked Eric if I could help him out. Since he had all bases covered, I just stayed and talked to him. There is nothing more relaxing than watching a man cook. Apparently I was getting to watch Eric bake as well because he was getting out flour, butter and chocolate and mixing it in a plastic bowl.

"For dessert I`m making something that reminds me of you. It`s very sweet, hard on the outside and soft on the inside. And if you have one taste, you instantly crave more." Eric wiggled his eyebrows. "I wanted to honor the river just on the border of your home state. This is Mississippi Mud Pie," he pointed at the bowl where dough was starting to form.

I had to laugh. "For the record, Eric, Bon Temps is nowhere near the Mississippi."

Xxxx

The Chicken Pot Pie was amazing. If it wasn`t for the little part of me who thought Gran was watching over me all the time, I would have told Eric that it was even better than Gran`s.

The conversation around the table wasn`t as uncomfortable as one could have feared it would be. We could thank Pam for it, since she made us all laugh, drink and have fun. Bill was drinking a bit more than I was used to see him drinking, but he was at the other end of the room so Debbie was the one who had to endure his drunk monologues.

When we were having coffee and cognac, I started feeling a little dizzy and I knew I had had a little too much to drink myself. I wasn`t used to drinking and before I started acting like a fool, I excused myself and went to bed.

I was getting extremely tired all of the sudden and almost fell asleep in the bathroom. I brushed my teeth very quickly and crashed onto my pillow. I didn`t even manage to crawl under the duvet before I was out like a light.

Xxxx

I woke up – well, I didn`t wake up as much as gaining some kind of semi-consciousness – by someone kissing me and touching my breasts.

I was on my back and had this strange feeling of numbness and I couldn`t make my arms or legs move, let alone push the person kissing me away.

"Oh, Sookie. I`ve been waiting for so long for this." It was Bill`s voice.

I started to panic. Why was Bill kissing me? Why was he groping me?

One of his hands was trailing down from my breast, over my stomach and settling between my legs. That made me go into a state of full panic. Not that it would do me any good. My limbs were immobile.

"Bill," I tried to scream, but it came out as more of a moan and only made Bill act faster, more frantic.

"Sookie, Sookie, Sookie," he chanted, groping me, pinching me, touching me, kissing me. "I love you, Sookie. I always have."

I tried to kick when he pulled down my panties and I tried to hit him when he pulled up my night gown. "Tried" being the operative word here because I couldn`t make more than little movements.

I couldn`t imagine anything that would keep me from being fully awake in a situation like this, but it felt like I was asleep. I knew this wasn`t a nightmare, but it still felt like one.

I knew Bill was going to rape me, but I couldn`t prevent it. And Bill would probably not even consider it rape since my resistance was so vague or even non-existent. Of course, no one should ever enter a bedroom with a sleeping girl and expect her to have sex with you, but there was something about Bill that made me think he actually thought I wanted to have sex with him.

He started making all the moves he used to make when we were lovers. He was even making an honest attempt at giving me an orgasm. When he realized it wasn`t going to happen, he just pulled his pants down and entered me.

"AAAAHHH, Sookie," he moaned

Finally I had control over my voice. I screamed the most high-pitched scream I had ever screamed.

The next thing I knew, the door flew open and Bill was pulled from me and smashed into the wall. I dozed off to Eric`s voice, calling out.

"Are you okay, Sookie?"

I couldn`t help giggling. The question was just too silly.

When I woke up again, I was in a hospital.

* * *

**A/N:**

For the record: You can of course not come into a room and just start having sex with someone, just as you can`t just start doing it in the trunk of a car. That`s rape, Bill, even if you are a drunk guy or a starving vampire.

If anyone is reacting to Sookie giggling – there will be an explanation for that.

On the lighter side of this chapter: "_It isn`t the fart that kills you, it`s the smell_," was actually said by Petter Solberg, a Norwegian race car driver. It`s from a hilarious Norwegian book called "Broken English spoken perfectly."

I hope you liked this chapter – in spite of the way it ended.

_Trøstekos til alle_! (comfort hugs to everyone!)


	15. Chapter 15

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 15**

**A/N:**

I got a lot of Kill Bill-requests from you guys and I must admit that I wouldn`t mind punching him in the nose myself. But Bill wasn`t killed in the books and he isn`t going to be killed here. Sorry…

Thank you for all the great reviews I got after the last chapter – and earlier on. I have not been able to answer you all (stupid shoulder problems have me limit my computer time grrr), but know that I really appreciate them.

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** at the Alexander Skarsgård library forum for reading this and giving so many great suggestions and corrections!

Extra note: I tried all day to post this, but fanfic acted up. Grrr. I hope you can read it now...

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_He started making all the moves he used to make when we were lovers. He was even making an honest attempt at giving me an orgasm. When he realized it wasn't going to happen, he just pulled his pants down and entered me. _

"_AAAAHHH, Sookie," he moaned _

_Finally I had control over my voice. I screamed the most high-pitched scream I had ever screamed. _

_The next thing I knew, the door flew open and Bill was pulled from me and smashed into the wall. I dozed off to Eric's voice, calling out._

"_Are you okay, Sookie?"_

_I couldn't help giggling. The question was just too silly._

_When I woke up again, I was in a hospital. _

* * *

**Chapter 15**

"Sookie?" Eric's voice was thick with worry.

I opened my eyes and saw the inside of what must have been a hospital room. Eric was holding my hand and looked me questioningly in the face.

"Are you awake? Are you in pain? Do you need something?" Eric opened his mouth to ask me more questions when he was interrupted.

"Take it easy, Eric. This isn't the time to write her biography. Let her breathe a little." Pam looked at me. "We were very worried about you, Sookie. You have been gone for almost 24 hours."

Twenty-four hours? I tried to remember what had happened, but it didn't make sense. No one hit my head and I couldn't find any other reasons for being unconscious for that long.

Eric read my mind. "You were drugged, Sookie. The doctors found traces of some kind of date rape drug in your blood." My eyes widened and I could feel terror wash over me. I had been drugged? That would explain why I couldn't move when Bill… when Bill raped me. I was raped.

"Bill claims he doesn't know anything about any drug." Eric clearly didn't believe Bill.

"But…" It was hard to locate my voice and it only came out as a whisper. "But why would Bill drug me?" I asked.

Eric and Pam looked at each other. One could tell that it was pretty obvious to them why Bill would have done such a thing. Then Pam gave me a motherly smile, well as motherly as Pam could smile, anyway. Pam wasn't exactly the motherly type.

"Bill claims it must have been Debbie. He says that Debbie told him to go to your bedroom. According to him, Debbie said you wanted him back and that you went to bed early because you wanted him to come to you." Pam paused. "Bill claims that he thought you wanted to have sex with him." She spat out the last sentence.

Bill's story obviously made no sense to Pam, but it did to me. As much as Bill had hurt me with Lorena and him dumping me without telling me, I really didn't think Bill would rape me. But maybe that was what all women who were raped by their ex, would say?

"Where is Bill now?" I needed to see Bill when he told me his story. I would know if he was lying.

"He's in police custody." Eric smiled. He patted my hand. "Don't worry about Bill. I'll make sure he doesn't bother you again. We don't put people in jail for as long as you guys do." I smiled a little at his use of the term "you guys". "But Bill will definitely be deported." Eric gritted his teeth "And if he isn't, I'll personally throw him out of the country."

"But what about the job he's doing for you? Wouldn't Viking Games suffer if he was thrown out of the country?"

Eric rolled his eyes. "Oh, Bill finished what he was hired to do weeks ago. He just hid it from me. Probably to gain more time to…" Eric looked at me and swore in Norwegian. At least I assumed he swore because those were words we hadn't learned in class - and probably never would.

I closed my eyes and heard Pam whisper something to Eric in Norwegian. They both became quiet and I dozed off again.

Xxxx

When I woke up, a police officer in uniform was in the room. She was talking in a very low voice with Eric. I could make out the word "Debbie", but not what the conversation was about. When she saw me look at her, she came over to the bed.

"Hello, Sookie. I'm Kenya and I'm a police officer with the Oslo Police."

I had to smile. I knew that Norwegians had a thing for using first names for each other, but for a police officer to introduce herself as Kenya and no last name, was just too funny. It probably spoke volumes of the state I was in, that this was the top of my humor-list. My smile died.

"Hello," I managed to answer.

"Are you up to answering a few questions about what happened to you?"

I nodded and Kenya looked down in her papers.

"You were raped.." she half stated half asked. I nodded again. "By a Bill Compton. He used to be your boyfriend?"

"Yes."

I told Kenya the story about `Bill and Sookie` and I felt the weight of him mentally rolling off my shoulders while talking about him. Kenya looked at me with concerned eyes. Then she spoke.

"You know you were drugged?"

"Yes, Eric and Pam told me."

"Then you should also know that Bill claims that he wasn't the one who drugged you."

"Eric and Pam told me that as well."

Kenya looked disapprovingly at Eric who just shrugged. Then she her eyes moved back to me with a silent question. I paused a little, then answered.

"I think he may be right. It doesn't really sound like something Bill would do."

I could see that Kenya had heard that sentence before, so I continued.

"And Bill didn't really have any opportunity to drug me. He was at the other end of the table and was never anywhere near my glass."

Kenya looked at Eric who was suddenly in deep thought. I could almost see him wind back the memory of the whole dinner. Then he gasped slightly. "She's right. Bill was never close to Sookie. I actually made sure of that. And what's more… Bill and Debbie did have a conversation alone just after Sookie had gone to bed."

Kenya looked at me.

"Would Debbie have any reason to want to hurt you?"

I shook my head. "I don't think she did. But I am a good friend of Alcide, her boyfriend or ex or whatever they are now. She may have been jealous of our friendship."

"Tell her about your wrap, Sookie," Eric said.

I told Kenya about the wrap and about everything that was said and done at the dinner party. After an hour she closed her notepad and shook my hand.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you, Sookie. We'll do our best to find out who was responsible." And then she was out the door.

Xxxx

The next morning, I was released from the hospital and back in Eric's house. I went to my room, dreading to see the bed again. But before I opened the door, Eric stopped me.

"No, Sookie. I've taken the liberty of putting you in my room."

I must have looked shocked.

"Well, that came out wrong. I mean, I traded rooms with you. I do have more bedrooms, but yours and mine are the largest and I didn't want you to have a smaller room just because of that b… of what happened. And I figured you didn't want to sleep in there just now so I just moved your things into my room and my things into yours."

Silent tears of gratitude, fear, sadness and despair ran down my cheeks and when I felt Eric's warm arms around me I started crying for real. I cried for a long time, having Eric's strong arms comforting me and his mouth whispering sweet words in Norwegian. When the tears stopped, I felt a large burden having been lifted from my shoulders. I could get through this.

Xxxx

We went back to something that resembled normal. Debbie had bragged of her deeds to Alcide, apparently in the hope that he would see it as a declaration of love. Unfortunately for her, Alcide told the police and Debbie was now in prison waiting for her trial.

Charges were dropped against Bill, but he still left Norway. I wasn't sure if he was thrown out or if Eric gave him an offer he couldn't refuse. I didn't miss him.

Now that Bill was gone, my initial reason for coming to Norway was gone too. I really didn't want to leave the country. I loved my job and I wasn't in any hurry to get home to the life I had shared with Bill.

I never asked Eric if he expected me to leave and he never told me to stay. But he treated me like an important employee at work and a good friend at home and I had no reason to think he would want me to go home.

He and I stayed home together every night, cooking, playing games or just watching something silly on the television.

Eric was full of concern and worry. He was sweet and gentle, always asking me how I felt and if I needed anything. He never asked me to yield again and I almost came to miss it. I didn't want to be a rape-victim for the rest of my life.

I worked even harder and had almost finished planning the whole launch of the new game Viking Games was working on: Valhalla.

It was an online game and was meant to be a competitor to World of Warcraft. It used the Viking Age as the theme and all the gods and myths as important parts of the game. Eric showed me a prototype and even if I had never been a gamer, I immediately loved Valhalla. It had strong women and the game was not all about fighting, which immediately made me believe the game could penetrate a market few other games had managed to sell very well to – women.

Eric loved the idea. "If we get women to play this game, men will come jumping," he claimed. "Men want to be where women are."

"Not all men are called Eric Northman, Eric," I laughed.

But I figured a game couldn't do too badly if we managed to make it the number one online game for women all over the globe – which soon became our goal.

I finished the PR- and marketing plan, making sure everything was ready for a launch in the beginning of November. We wanted to hit the important Christmas market.

We were running out of time, but Eric assured me that the game was finished, tested and ready to be sold. He was confident nothing could go wrong.

He was so badly mistaken.

* * *

**A/N:**

This was a sad little chapter, but I had to move us (and Sookie) along.

I only have four words about the next chapter: _Dead to the World_. *whistles innocently*


	16. Chapter 16

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 16**

**A/N:**

Oh, I have left you waiting way too long. Let`s just say that I am not best friends with my shoulder these days.

Thank you for all your great reviews. It was obvious that you guys know your SVM. Dead to the World is apparently a favorite to several of you *winks*.

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** who got this (and next chapter) late last night and this morning I had it in my mailbox, corrected and with some great suggestions. She is such a darling!

* * *

**Previous chapter:**

_I finished the PR- and marketing plan, making sure everything was ready for a launch in the beginning of November. We wanted to hit the important Christmas market. We were running out of time, but Eric assured me that the game was finished, tested and ready to be sold. He was confident nothing could go wrong._

_He was so badly mistaken._

* * *

**Chapter 16:**

The first snow came down as little white dots falling slowly outside my window. I was fascinated. We did have snow from time to time in North Louisiana, but definitely never in the beginning of October.

I was working out of Eric's house to be able to focus on the last details on the PR-plan when Pam called me. She sounded very un-Pam – that's the best way to describe the panting, nervous Pam I had on the other end of the line.

"Is Eric there?" she almost yelled.

"No, what's up?" She was all worked up and did a pretty good job at working me up too.

"The police are here, turning the place upside down. They won't tell us why and Eric disappeared after having been interrogated all morning."

"Why didn't you call me before? I'm responsible for PR and this is bad PR!"

"Shit, Sookie. We weren't allowed near our phones until now that they have removed all kinds of stuff from the premises." She shouted to someone to try again. "And we really need Eric now. There are reporters standing in line outside and they want to talk to him."

"Pam, you need to snap out of it. We'll reverse things. I'll look for Eric and you go out and talk to the reporters. Tell them that Viking Games is assisting the police in any way we can. Don't tell them anything else, but try to look calm and give them serious smiles."

"Serious smiles," Pam repeated. "What the hell is a serious smile?"

"It's a smile that shows that you are not worried, but that you are also taking things seriously. If anyone can charm the media, it's you, Pam!" I knew how important confidence was before jumping into the media-lion's den.

"Do you have any idea where I should start looking for Eric?"

"No, not really. The secretary overheard him say that he would go for a walk to clear his head, but his car is gone too, so…" She trailed off.

"Don't worry, Pam. I'll find Eric and everything will be fine." I didn't believe that for a second, but it was important for Pam to hear now.

Xxxx

I had no idea where to look for Eric. Or rather, I had one idea, but it was silly. Since it was the only idea I had, I figured I might as well try it out.

Eric had taken me for a lot of walks in Oslo, but only once had he needed his car to take me somewhere. That was the day he took me nude swimming in a lake in the forest of Oslo. I knew the name of the parking lot and was pretty sure I could navigate from there, so I called a taxi and hoped my hunch was right.

When the taxi stopped at the parking lot by Skullerudstua (and imagine how many times I had to say that to get the taxi driver to understand where I wanted to go), I almost jumped out of the door without paying. Eric`s little THiNK was there, parked in one corner of the parking lot.

I didn`t run through the forest, but it was close. I was pretty glad I had put on my warmer shoes and some thick socks since the snow made the paths all white and wet. I almost slipped a few times and swore a little to myself. In Norwegian, mind you. Oh yes, I had learned to say both _faen_ and _dritt_ and I could even link them together to _faens dritt_. I smiled to myself.

My smile stiffened when I came to the lake and saw Eric. He had rolled up his jeans and was bare footed. His shoes and socks were nowhere to be seen. I ran towards him.

"Eric!" I yelled. "It's me!"

He wheeled around then, hissing, his eyes all wild. I stopped so abruptly I swayed where I stood, my hands out in front of me in a gesture of peace.

Why didn't Eric recognize me? I'd known him for many months.

"Stay back, woman," he warned me. His voice sounded like his throat was sore, raspy and raw.

"What are you doing here?"

"Who are you?"

"You know darn well who I am, Eric!"

"You know me?" Now he just sounded forlorn. I went over to him and put my arms around his shoulder.

"Of course I know you, Eric. What are you talking about? What happened to you?" I looked down and saw his feet. They were all blue and bloody. "And where are your shoes?"

"I wanted to go swimming." He looked down too and shrugged as if he just now realized he was cold.

"Oh Eric." I quickly pulled off one shoe at a time and pulled off my socks and gave them to him. "Put these on. They might help you a little bit until we get you back to your car."

"My car?" Eric looked really lost.

"Eric, what happened to you?"

Eric shook his head as if he tried to remember. Then he looked at me and the look in his eyes made my blood freeze. "I don`t know. I really don`t."

I pulled him in for a hug because that was the only thing I could think of doing.

"Let`s get you home," I said, grabbed his hand and we walked away from the lake and through the forest. I was worried about his naked feet in my socks, and my own sockless ones too to be honest. It was pretty cold to walk around without socks and I could only imagine how freezing Eric`s feet were, but he never complained.

I drew a little breath of relief when I finally spotted the car. When we were both in the car, I started it, put the heater on and called Pam.

"I found him."

"So bring him down here. The reporters want to talk to him."

"I can`t." I looked at Eric. I really didn`t want to upset him, but Pam had to know. "Eric is not…. himself."

"What do you mean he`s not himself?" Pam lost her cool. "Put him on."

"I`d rather not. Maybe we could meet back home?" I wanted Pam to see Eric. She was his sister and might know what was wrong with him.

"Sookie, if Eric can`t talk to reporters, he can`t go home. They are there, waiting for a picture of the soon-to-be prison-playboy." Pam spat out the last word.

"Prison?" I almost yelled. Eric looked at me with frightened eyes.

"I`ll tell you all about it, Sookie. Just come to…" She thought about it for a few seconds. "Meet me at Chow`s place." She gave me the address and where to find the key. Apparently Norwegians also put their keys under their doormats.

"We'll be there."

We hung up simultaneously. Eric was watching me with unblinking blue eyes. His hair was a snarly tangled mess of blond waves and his jeans were dirty. He looked like a lost puppy and I felt so sorry for him.

Xxxx

When we came to Chow`s apartment I took in all the details of Eric`s state. Under the overhead light in the kitchen, Eric looked pretty pitiful. His bare feet were dirty and bleeding.

"Oh, Eric," I said sadly, and went looking for a pan or a bucket, found it, and filled it with hot water.

The blue jeans were filthy around the hem. "Pull 'em off," I said, knowing they'd just get wet if I soaked his feet while he was dressed.

With not a hint of a leer or any other indication that he was enjoying this development, Eric shimmied out of the jeans. I tossed them over in the corner, trying not to gape at my landlord and employer, who was now clad in underwear that was definitely over-the-top; a bright red bikini style whose stretchy quality was definitely being tested.

I pointed to one of the straight-back chairs at the kitchen table. Obediently, he pulled it out and sat. I crouched to put the pan on the floor, and I gently guided his big feet into the water. Eric groaned as the warmth touched his skin. I guess that he could feel the contrast even in his state. I found a clean rag and some liquid soap, and I washed his feet. I took my time, because I was trying to think what this was all about.

I then went to the bathroom, found a towel and pulled Eric`s feet out of the water and dried them with gentle strokes. I had found some band-aids and put some on the deeper scratches.

After I had settled him on the couch with a big afghan and a cup of coffee ( I took some liberties in Chow`s house) I heard the door open and Pam and Chow walked in with a tiny woman.

xxxxx

"He is either in some kind of shock or he has entered into a deep depression." Pam and Eric`s family doctor shook her head after having examined Eric.

Her name was Doctor Ludwig and she was shorter than me, which made her the first person I`d met in Norway who was.

"You can`t be a little more specific?" Pam was annoyed.

Doctor Ludwig didn`t even bother to look at Pam. "If he had broken his leg, I would gladly have shown you an x-ray. Unfortunately things like this," she pointed to Eric, "aren`t exact science. He needs rest and care." Doctor Ludwig started putting on her coat.

"So when is he going to be himself again?" Chow asked. He had been standing in the corner during the whole examination.

"When are you really yourself?" And with that philosophical remark, Doctor Ludwig was out the door.

Eric had been holding my hand all the time Doctor Ludwig was examining him. He looked relaxed, but I could feel the tension in his body. I let my thumb run over the back of his hand to soothe him and was rewarded with a little smile.

Pam and Chow looked at each other, then they looked at Eric and finally at me.

"We need to get Eric away and I want you to go with him, Sookie." Pam had a determined look on her face.

"I can`t just leave. If Viking Games is in trouble, you`ll need someone to handle the PR." I hadn`t really done any crisis communication before, but I knew all the text books on the subject. I was ready to deal with this.

"You will handle the PR, but you`ll do it through me. Believe me, I would love to take care of my brother," she patted him on the head like he was some kind of dog. "But I think he would prefer me to look after Viking Games instead. I`ll be the face to the media, you will take care of Eric and Chow will do his best to out the story behind all this mess."

I had almost forgotten Chow and turned my head in his direction. He gave me a nod and looked back at Pam. No one asked Eric what he wanted.

After some minutes of silence, Pam spoke.

"You guys obviously can`t go to Eric`s apartment or any of his cabins, so you`ll have to hide in my little place in the mountains. Don`t worry, it isn`t registered in my name, so no one will know you are there."

Xxxx

This was how I came to be sitting behind the wheel of a 4x4 driving up in the mountains near Lillehammer with a now sleeping Eric in the passenger`s seat. The car was Chow`s and the clothes in the bags were mainly Pam`s and some clothes Eric had at Pam`s place. Even the laptop was Pam`s. Pam had assured me that the cabin would be equipped with all kinds of sanitary and beauty products.

"I don`t want to use your old toothbrush," I had complained, but Pam had just laughed and said that she always kept a stock of unused toothbrushes, creams, soaps and make-up there.

"I never know who I can lure to go with me without notice," Pam had said with a grin. Pam was an `always prepared`-kind of woman, even if I had never seen her in a girl-scout uniform.

The snow was deeper and deeper the higher up in the mountains we got. I was glad I had the GPS because I honestly wouldn`t have found this from a map. And Eric wasn`t much help even if Pam claimed that he had been to her cabin "every time he needed to screw someone without getting too personal," as she so eloquently put it. Taking girls to his own cabin, let alone his house, was apparently one step away from asking her to marry him.

I glanced at Eric. He was sleeping with his mouth open snoring lightly.

The last couple of kilometers were on a forest road with deeper snow. I drove rather slowly, but the car still slipped a little in the turns. It was getting dark too.

I drew a breath of relief when we finally came to the cabin and I let my hand gently caress Eric`s cheek to wake him up. He opened his blue eyes and looked at me with confusion and then recognition.

"Sookie…" he said tentatively as if he had never said my name before. Of course he hadn`t said my name since I found him cold and wet by the forest lake, only heard it from Pam and Chow.

I looked at him.

"Come on, let`s get you inside. I`m sure when you have put that police interview behind you…" I could see Eric stiffen when I mentioned the police. "And you relax a bit in front of the fire-place, you`ll be yourself in no time." I tried to smile my most convincing smile. Eric nodded, but insecurity was written in his eyes.

The cabin was small and very cozy with pine wood walls and floors, homemade little carpets and a huge fire-place by the couches in the living room. From the windows in the living room there was a spectacular view over the lake – the snow and stars making everything look dark blue. It took my breath away.

I looked back at Eric and he looked at me. He smiled tentatively and I smiled back.

"Let`s get us settled in here, Eric."

I made a fire in the fire-place and Eric went to cook dinner. The cabin wasn`t just stocked with beauty products, someone had also been there today and filled the cabinets and fridge with food.

When we were eating the reindeer casserole Eric had prepared, and I was trying hard to refrain from thinking of Rudolf, I started asking Eric about what had happened to him.

"So what happened to you, Eric?"

He had the saddest look in his eyes when they met mine and it felt like someone took a good hold around my heart and squeezed.

"I`m not sure," he whispered. "I have large blanks. I can`t remember you or Chow and I can only remember Pam as a kid. I can`t recall anything related to my job and definitely not what happened the last few days. It`s as if my adult life has been taken away from me, and…." he paused and looked down. "And it scares the shit out of me."

I took his hand over the table and gave it a squeeze.

"It`ll come back to you. A good night`s sleep and you`ll be back in Viking Games fighting with a bloodlust, only seen when the old Vikings made their little trips abroad."

"Oh, I can`t wait to go berserk on whoever started this crap." He chuckled, eyes full of life.

And for a moment I felt I had my Eric back. Whoa… _my_ Eric?

* * *

**A/N: **

No, I didn`t hit Eric over the head to give him amnesia (those amnesias are very rare anyway). A friend of mine, who is a CEO at a major Norwegian company, was put through some of the same stuff I`m having Eric go through, and I`m copying his reactions to it. He couldn`t remember his wife, let alone the rest of us, for days. It was pretty scary! He also tried to hide from the media – the largest newspaper actually came to his cabin in a helicopter to take pictures of a broken man. It was sickening!

I hope you liked this chapter.

_Faens dritt_ means "fucking shit", by the way :-D


	17. Chapter 17

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 17**

**A/N:**

It`s so strange – so many of you have asked me if the cabin has a shower. I do NOT know what you mean *giggle*.

Thank you so much for all your great reviews. They put such a huge smile on my face. I really hope you`ll like this chapter too.

I would also love to thank **Rascalthemutant** from the Alexander Skarsgård library forum for taking her time from house painting to read this and give it thumbs up. *hugs*

What to do after you`ve read this? **Peppermintyrose** has read the SVM-books with so much stronger glasses than the rest of us and has given us so many great theories at the forum. Now she has written her first fic, a one-shot where she has put some of her great knowledge into a story. Go read **A Fate Worse than Dead** and you will know just what Sookie thinks of Eric – and of being turned.

**Suki59** also has a new story out and as usual, she has me chewing my nails for more. I love how the vampires are still in the coffin in her **Over the Moon**.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_I took his hand over the table and gave it a squeeze._

_"It`ll come back to you. A good night`s sleep and you`ll be back in Viking Games fighting with a bloodlust, only seen when the old Vikings made their little vacations abroad."_

_"Oh, I can`t wait to go berserk on whoever started this crap." He chuckled, eyes full of life._

_And for a moment I felt I had my Eric back. Whoa… my Eric?_

* * *

**Chapter 17**

Eric was worn out and went to bed. Or maybe he just wanted to forget everything and sleep was the way he figured he could do it.

I, on the other hand, was not in the habit of going to bed at half past eight so I went and turned the television on in the living room. After having flicked through some mindless gameshows and realities I noticed that the clock had turned nine and I put on TV2 to watch the news.

Viking Games wasn`t one of the headlines and it wasn`t one of their top stories either, but just as I was silently hoping that it wasn`t a news item at all, Pam`s face came into the picture while the newscaster announced something I couldn`t really make out. Why did people on Norwegian television have to speak all these weird dialects? The only word I got was `_politi_` which was ´police´ and I swallowed.

Then they showed a lot of uniformed police carrying papers and computers out of Viking Games` offices. This was not good. The next picture showed Pam with a lot of microphones up in her face and my blood froze when she answered a reporter asking her where Eric was.

"He is out there looking for the truth."

That of course sent her right into a media frenzy. The reporters wanted to know what truth she meant and if Eric was some kind of vigilante on the loose. Well, actually I couldn`t understand what the reporters said because they were all talking at once, but I imagined those were their questions.

I went to the fridge and took out a beer. I`m usually not one to drink much and especially not when I`m agitated, but now I really had to have a cold Ringnes.

When I had calmed down, I picked up my phone and called Pam.

"Yes," she almost shouted. Mrs. Ravenscroft had apparently done a poor job of teaching her daughter how to answer the phone.

"What the hell do you think you are doing, Pam? You said I would handle communications and you would just be the face in front of the microphones and the first thing you do is screw up so badly it`ll blow up in our faces. You never ever ever tell a lie to reporters and definitely not when that lie is so extremely lame and only opens up to a row of new questions. Pam," I shouted. "I know that you probably think that PR is all about lying, but it`s not. You may be painting the truth in beautiful colors, but you always tell the truth. That`s rule number one in PR. Don`t ever forget that if you don`t want to close the doors to Viking Games for good." I was out of breath, but definitely not out of words.

Pam took advantage of my little pause for air and started talking in her usual calm tone of voice.

"Are you finished ranting, Sookie?" Pam asked in a dry voice.

"No, I am not. I am not putting my name on an insane crisis communication, so you just listen to me."

And I went on and told Pam just what to say to the media and how to answer different kinds of answers. Mainly she was to say as little as possible, but make it sound as if she was saying a lot. She was not to talk about Eric at all and I gave her specific instructions to hand out a "no comments" to that line of questioning. "No comments" is the last resort-kind of answer, but there were no other options here.

Pam and I had discussed strategy for almost two hours before I was worn out and had hung up the phone. I yawned and decided that Mr. Sandman must have paid me a visit without me noticing. I was beat.

After some toothbrushing, Pam had over 20 unused toothbrushes in the bathroom, I changed into my pajamas and went to bed in the bedroom not occupied by an amnesiac blonde. I was almost asleep when I heard someone tiptoeing into my room.

"Can I stay here with you?" Eric whispered.

I was going to say no, but he looked so forlorn in the moonlit room, I couldn`t bring myself to send him away.

"Come on," I answered, dead tired.

He jumped into my bed.

"Sookie," Eric whispered.

"Mmm," was all I managed to answer.

"What`s your last name?"

I chuckled a little. Eric never used my last name and I wasn`t even sure he would remember it when he wasn`t depressed, in shock or whatever was wrong with him.

"Stackhouse. My name is Sookie Stackhouse."

"Sookie Stackhouse." He tasted my name, rolled it on his tongue and smiled. "Thank you for doing this for me, Sookie Stackhouse," he smiled through the darkness.

"You`re welcome, Eric Northman.

I patted around on the sheet until I found his hand. His palm was turned up to meet my palm and his fingers clasped mine. I gave his hand a squeeze and though I would not have thought it possible to go to sleep holding hands with Eric Northman, that's exactly what I did.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

We were still holding hands the next morning when I woke up, which was quite an achievement when you consider the fact that scientists claim that we move around at least 50 times during a night`s sleep.

Eric`s eyes were on me.

"Are we… have we been lovers?" That was certainly a nice way to put it. Eric was usually pretty Anglo-Saxon about sex.

"No, Eric. We are not lovers. You are my boss and I also live in your apartment, but we have never been lovers." I cleverly left out the kisses and the little intermezzo in Copenhagen. After all, if Bill Clinton could claim he didn`t have sex with that woman, I could tell Eric we had never been lovers."

"Do you have a…." Eric trailed off, which was very uncharacteristic of him.

"No, Eric. I don`t have a boyfriend." And then I went on to tell him the whole story of why I had come to Norway in the first place, about my job at Viking Games and about Bill. I didn`t feel comfortable talking about the rape. After I finished talking, I didn`t feel comfortable at all, lying in bed with Eric, holding his hand. Or maybe I felt too comfortable?

I jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom for a much needed errand. When I was finished, I looked at my reflection in the mirror and took a deep breath. When I was sent to the cabin with Eric, I was so focused on Eric`s breakdown and everything happening to Viking Games, that it never crossed my mind that it could be awkward to be alone with Eric. I had been alone with him in his house, but this felt different.

The smell of eggs and bacon hit me when I came out of the bathroom. Eric smiled to me in the kitchen.

"I hope you are hungry. I thought we could go skiing and you need all your strength to get through the 50 kilometer track I usually go."

I just gaped. Eric acted surprised. "What… you don`t want to go 50 kilometers?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "And just how would a Louisiana-girl have learned to ski?"

Eric nodded and scratched his chin. "Hmm, it seems we need to take the shorter route, the one that is meant for little kids and elderly people." Eric smiled. "It`s only 5 kilometers."

We put on skis and I wasn`t really sure if I was happy that Pam`s fit me perfectly. It seemed that not having skis would be the only excuse Eric would accept.

I`ve never tried, seen or even heard of anyone going cross-country skiing so I had to start at the super beginners` level. I had a hard time even putting on the skis, not to mention getting up when I fell. Which I did a lot.

Eric laughed so hard I almost started to worry about his lungs. I got more and more annoyed and told him just what I thought about skis, him, snow and Norway in general. I even used some Norwegian swearwords I never knew I had picked up.

Eric swallowed his laughter. It cost him some coughing and some looking away, but he managed. Then he skied into the tracks in front of me, yanked his ski pole up behind him and asked me to grab it.

"This is how we teach kids to ski," Eric smiled. "That would be very small kids. 2 – 3 year-olds." Now his laughter was back. I gave the ski pole a push and almost had him on the ground, but he caught his balance.

"Now grab the ski pole and I`ll drag you around. You just focus on keeping your balance."

One would think it would be pretty relaxing to just be dragged around in the ski slopes, having the sun in your face and a handsome guy in front of you, but the reality was that I was worn out when we came back to the cabin.

"Did you really mean that you usually go 50 kilometers?" I panted.

"Of course. It`s mandatory to walk at least 30 kilometers if you`re Norwegian. Of course we rarely have clumsy Southern girls hanging on our coattails." Eric winked.

I was so worn out, I couldn`t even comment on him calling me clumsy. I just sent him a look.

I was dripping wet from sweat, but Eric looked as if he had been out strolling lazily in the sun. It just wasn`t fair. I tried to muster energy for a shower, but I was worn out.

"I`ll take a shower, but it looks as if you could use a sauna, Sookie. Your muscles need the heat."

I took a quick cold shower and went in the sauna. I lay down on the lowest bench and just relaxed, feeling my brain being drained of thoughts. After ten minutes I was dry and knew I had to go take another cold shower to be able to spend more time in the sauna.

I figured Eric would be finished showering by now, but to make sure, I listened for running water before I left the sauna. Nothing. With my towel around my torso, I went for some cold water, but I stopped in my tracks when I saw Eric behind the shower cabinet. He hadn`t noticed me yet and I knew I should have left, but I couldn`t help staring.

My breath stuck in my throat. I made a sound like "Guck," and made myself close my eyes tight. I clenched my fists. If there was an international butt competition, Eric would win, hands down—or cheeks up. He would get a large, large trophy. I had never realized a woman could have to struggle to keep her hands off a man, but here I was, digging my nails into my palms, staring at the inside of my eyelids as though I could maybe see through them if I peered hard enough.

It was somehow degrading, craving someone so... so voraciouslyjust because he was physically beautiful. I hadn't thought that was something women did, either.

"Sookie, are you all right?" Eric asked.

I floundered my way back to sanity through a swamp of lust. He was standing right in front of me, his hands resting on my shoulders. I looked up into his blue eyes, now focused on me and apparently full of nothing but concern. I was right on a level with his hard nipples. They were the size of pencil erasers. I bit the inside of my lip. I would not lean over those few inches.

"Excuse me," I said, speaking very softly. I was scared to speak loudly, or move at all. If I did, I might knock him down. "I didn't mean to walk in on you."

"You have seen all of me before, haven`t you?"

"Yes, but intruding wasn't polite."

"I don't mind."

I went back to the sauna much hotter and just as dry as I was when I left it to take a shower. I sat with my towel around my body when I saw the door open and a very naked Eric enter with a wooden bucket full of water in his hand.

He took out a cloth with cold water from the bucket and moved over to me and pulled my towel away.

I gasped, just short of a shriek. He was very naked. He was also in the mood, the same mood I was in. You could really tell, with Eric. I was embarrassed, horrified, and absolutely ready to jump him. While I lay there stock-still, paralyzed by conflicting waves of emotion, Eric took the cloth and began to wash my arms, raising each in turn to stroke my armpit, down my side, never touching my breasts, which were practically quivering like puppies who wanted to be petted.

"And we have never made love?" he asked.

I shook my head, still unable to speak.

"Then I was a fool," he said, moving the cloth in a circular motion over my stomach. "Turn around, elsker."

I turned around to lie on my stomach, and he began to work on my back. His fingers in the cold wash cloth were very strong and very clever, and I had the most relaxed and cleanest set of shoulder blades in Norway by the time Eric got through.

My shoulder blades were the only thing at ease. My libido was hopping up and down. Was I really going to do this? It seemed more and more likely that I was, I thought nervously. If the man in the sauna had been the real Eric, the Eric without the shock or depression or whatever was wrong with him, I think I would have had the strength to back off. I would probably… hopefully have ordered him out the minute he stepped in.

The real Eric came with a whole package of flirting and women, something I had a hard time dealing with. This was a different Eric—without the personality that I'd grown fond of, in a perverse way—but it was beautiful Eric, who desired me, who was hungry for me.

Eric`s anatomy was reacting to me or the heat, I wasn`t not sure which, but he certainly had a reaction. I paled a little when I saw it.

I felt like a someone who had never been skiing and now she was supposed to go the Birkebeiner race – the Norwegian ski race copying a historic event where a prince was saved by a couple of guys who skied with him 54 kilometers over the mountains. Let`s just say that I wasn`t sure my body was ready for whatever Eric had to offer.

My brain started an internal debate on the wisdom of having sex with someone I didn`t love and who wasn`t himself. Would it be wrong for me to make love to Eric in the state he was in now? Was I exploiting him? After a few minutes my body took over and my brain went into hibernation.

I grabbed the cloth from Eric, dipped it in the water from the bucket and started washing him. Eric was lying on his side, looking at me and I gave his butt, his glorious butt some extra attention. Eric started to shift a little and I felt that it was my duty to make sure that the heat from the sauna wasn`t preventing him from having children some day. His swimmers needed a cooler environment so I started washing him between his legs.

Eric moaned slightly and I couldn`t help myself from kissing his strong chest. I licked his nipple.

"Bite a little," Eric whispered and I used my teeth. He liked that.

His hands began to move restlessly over whatever bit of my skin they could find, stroking and teasing. When I pulled away from his chest, he had decided to reciprocate. While his mouth closed over my breast, his hand glided between my legs. I gave a deep sigh, and did a little moving of my own. He had long fingers.

The heat from the sauna made it unbearable for us to stay there and Eric got up.

"Come here," he whispered and carried me bridal-style out of the sauna.

* * *

**A/N:**

My shoulders gave in and I had to stop here. But really – you want a full chapter of…. of whatever is going to happen, don`t you?


	18. Chapter 18

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 18**

**A/N:**

Did I stop the last chapter at an inconvenient time? *bats eyes innocently*

Thank you so much for all of your great reviews. One of you wondered why Sookie would say that she was _not_ in love with Eric when it seems so clear that she is. Well, this is Sookie`s point of view and if she hasn`t acknowledged her feelings, then she won`t proclaim them - even to herself. You readers are of course free to form your own opinions on what Sookie and Eric have deep in their hearts. I know I have :-D

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** at the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum for taking her time from making the Library a great place to find AS-related material (and to discuss it), to read and correct this little Norwegian tale.

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

_Eric moaned slightly and I couldn`t help myself from kissing his strong chest. I licked his nipple._

"_Bite a little," Eric whispered and I used my teeth. He liked that. _

_His hands began to move restlessly over whatever bit of my skin they could find, stroking and teasing. When I pulled away from his chest, he had decided to reciprocate. While his mouth closed over my breast, his hand glided between my legs. I gave a deep sigh, and did a little moving of my own. He had long fingers._

_The heat from the sauna made it unbearable for us to stay there and Eric got up._

"_Come here," he whispered and carried me bridal-style out of the sauna. _

* * *

**Chapter 18:**

When we were out of the sauna, he started kissing me.

"You are so hot," he whispered.

"I just came out of the sauna. Of course I`m hot," I teased him.

"Oh, so you`re only hot from the sauna, are you?"

I blushed a little. Talking about your alleged hotness when you are naked in the arms of a guy who was incredibly hot even if he hadn`t been to a sauna, was just not that easy.

He pulled me closer and started to kiss the skin on my chest. His lips felt almost cool.

"You are hot." This time he put pressure on `are` instead of `hot`. I wasn`t sure I liked that.

We were in the living room, but instead of walking towards the bedroom he walked in the other direction. I looked at him and noticed that he was working very hard on killing a smile. Something was fishy here and I knew it wasn`t the prospect of him having sex with me.

I realized what it was when he was at the door to the terrace. Before I could scream or yell he had the door opened and threw himself – and me – out in the cold snow.

The snow hit me with a full shock. It was like all my organs stopped for a second and asked my brain what was going on. The only answer my brain could come up with was to scream and move my arms and legs in all directions.

"What the hell are you doing, Eric?" I yelled, trying to get away from him.

He held me tight while rolling around in the snow with me. Then he stopped when I was on top, and looked at me.

"I`m cooling you down, elsker," he said as if throwing your potential lover out in the snow was the most natural thing to do. Apparently it was. "If there is snow, we roll in it after a sauna. In the summer we jump in the cold lake. It`s good for the circulation. And your skin was way too hot."

Then he pulled my head down and kissed me. It was a hot kiss that almost made me forget the surroundings. Almost. Because when I moved my head up again, I had my hand filled with snow and I placed it all on his sweet face.

I quickly, or as quickly as the snow would allow me, got up and tried to make a run for the door. No such luck. I felt a couple of strong hands on my hips, pulling me back in the snow. The owner of those hands laughed very loudly.

"Let me go, Eric. I`m freezing here," I pleaded, but landed in the soft snow after a little trip through the air.

"Ouch," I held up my arm. "My arm really hurts. I must have landed on it."

Eric`s laughter died and he was very quickly by my side. I always thought that cold temperatures would make certain parts of a man`s body run for cover. Eric`s parts were not that smart – he was still very much in the mood.

When he came to me, he bent down and took my arm in his hands. His face had worried lines between his eyebrows and he looked sorry.

Suddenly, using the element of surprise, I yanked his arm and pushed his legs at the same time, making him go face first into the snow. My arm was more than fine, but being a little sister had taught me that faking an injury could make you win over even the strongest guy. In war and love etc.

I quickly ran towards the door and when I was inside, I locked it and made all kinds of faces at the shocked Eric on the outside. Then the snow and freezing temperature outside really crept over me and I went into the sauna again.

After a few minutes, the door to the sauna opened and Eric stood in the doorway, hands on his hips.

"Ooohh, you are in huge trouble now," he laughed. "I had to walk all the way around the cabin to the main door."

"Serves you right for throwing me out in the snow. My butt is built for heat, not snow." I got up and shook my butt at him. I don`t know where that came from because I`m pretty sure I would never have defined myself as a girl who shook my naked butt at people.

"Is that so?"

Before I knew what was happening, my butt was up in the sky and my body was on Eric`s shoulder. No more bridal-style, now I was carried fireman-style. A little less sexy, but with a great view. I gave Eric`s behind a slap.

He carried me out of the sauna and into the living room again. For a short moment, I was afraid I was going to land in the snow once again, but then he pushed the door to my bedroom open and carefully laid me on the bed and himself next to me.

He looked me in the eyes and his hand was on my stomach, his fingers twitching a little bit. I smiled at him and he smiled back.

When he bent over me to kiss me, some snow from his hair landed on my chest. Eric`s mouth changed directions from my mouth to the drop of snow. He took his mouth over it and moved it to my nipple where he let his tongue circle it around in an increasingly melting form. Then he licked it up.

"Didn`t your mother teach you not to eat snow," I whispered.

Eric chuckled and looked at me.

"Yes, but she also told me to be nice to girls."

"Nice, huh?"

"Uh huh," he said, now with my breast in his mouth again. He sucked lightly and let his tongue roll around my nipple.

"Well, my grandmother never taught me to be nice to boys," I whispered.

Eric looked at me with a wicked smile. "Don`t be nice, then."

"I won`t," I said, pulling his head up to mine and giving him a deep kiss while positioning myself under him. I wanted this to happen now. Then I remembered something.

"What about protection?" I asked.

"Oh, I`ll protect you, elsker."

I looked at him. "No, I mean… we… you need to use a condom."

Eric lifted his head. "A condom?" he asked, looking very confused. Then it dawned upon me. He had lost his memory of most of his adult life. Of course he wouldn`t remember what a condom was. He probably hadn`t brought any and I certainly hadn`t thought of condoms when I suddenly had to leave for the cabin.

I growled. My body had wanted sex with Eric for a while and only my brain had held me back, but now even my head was frustrated.

Eric pulled back and then I heard a familiar sound of foil being ripped. Eric was pulling on a condom while winking at me.

"I remember some things, it seems," he smiled.

Suddenly Eric was on top of me, about to enter. I was exhilarated and very ready. I reached between us to put him at just the right spot, rubbing the tip of him over my nub as I did so.

"Min elsker," he said hoarsely, and pushed.

Though I'd been sure I was prepared, and I ached with wanting him, I cried out with the shock of it. Maybe it was Bill`s rape, maybe it was the size of Eric. I was tense and couldn`t let go. I closed my eyes.

After a moment, Eric said, "Don't close your eyes. Look at me, elsker." The way he said "elsker" was like a caress, like he was calling me by a name no other man had ever used before or ever would after.

He pulled out and started kissing my neck, then my breasts and my stomach on his way down. I whimpered, first from the loss of him inside me, then from the knowledge of where he was going.

Soon he had his warm tongue running in a sweet track up and down between my folds and in circles around my nub. I closed my eyes and spread my legs even further. Then he stopped and my eyes flew open and I met his bright blue ones.

"Look at me, elsker. I want to see your eyes."

I couldn`t deny Eric anything at that moment and we looked each other deep in the eyes while he carried me all the way to the edge – and then pushed me over dramatically. After that I saw nothing but colors flashing. I heard a loud moan and it took me a while to realize that it had come from my own mouth.

The next thing I felt was Eric`s tongue in my mouth and the taste of my own juices. I wove my fingers into his hair and pulled him closer and then he was inside me. He moved tentatively, but I urged him on by meeting him with my hips, my legs around his waist.

I knew that Eric was large, but it wasn`t until he was inside me, I got the full meaning of it. I couldn`t help moaning again. His tentative thrusts became deeper and stronger and he was breathing heavier and whispering my name again and again.

When I started to see all those colors again, Eric whispered "elsker" which made me look up. I met his eyes and the pleasure I saw spreading in his face made me come hard. Eric`s thrusts became frantic and soon he yelled out loudly, stiffened and started to shake a little before he landed on top of me.

He shifted to the side and started kissing me on my neck while whispering what I assumed was endearments in Norwegian.

He pulled out, took off the condom and threw it in the waste basket and lay down on his back. He pulled me up on his chest and I smiled when I heard his heart pump at an almost scary speed.

Eric kissed the top of my head.

"I wish," I said, "I could save orgasms in a jar for when I need them, because I think I had a few extra today."

All of a sudden Eric roared with laughter. That sounded good, that sounded like the Eric I knew. I felt comfortable with this gorgeous but a little unknown stranger, after I heard that laugh.

"If I had known you would be this gorgeous with your clothes off, I would have tried to do this sooner," he said.

"You did try to do this sooner, about twenty times," I said, lifting my head and smiling at him.

"Then I have good taste." He hesitated for a long minute, some of the pleasure leaving his face.

"Tell me about us. How long have I known you?"

The light from the window spilled onto the right side of his face. His hair spread over the pillow, shining and golden.

"I'm cold," I said gently, and pulled the covers up over us. I propped myself up on one elbow and he lay on his side, so we were facing each other. "Since this summer. Though we have known about each other longer through my ex-boyfriend Bill. He worked for you at Viking Games." I started telling Eric more about what Bill did for Viking Games and then what I did.

"I want to hear about my company, but now I want to hear about you and me. I find myself mightily interested."

Another little shock: the real Eric cared about his own position first, relationships down about— oh, I don't know, tenth, which was probably why he had had so many women waltzing in and out of his life. This was definitely odd.

I told him the tale of Eric and Sookie and even if we hadn`t known each other for more than a couple of months, the tale took some time to tell and long enough for Eric to get a mischievous look in his eyes again. While I was talking, his hand made its own little tour of my body, stopping at my breasts, my waist and ending between my legs.

I stopped talking very abruptly when his index finger went inside me while his thumb worked miracles on the outside.

"Please continue," Eric whispered with a teasing grin.

"Oh, I think we are past the tell-part in my `show and tell`," I smiled, moving my hips in rhythm with his hand. Soon Eric had me panting. Remembering how much he liked to look me in my eyes when he gave me pleasure, I kept his gaze while he made me come yelling his name.

I heard the sound of a condom foil being ripped and reminded myself to start taking my birth control pills again. I had stopped when I realized Bill wasn`t in Norway, but now I had reason to start again.

Eric entered me again, but just when he was inside, he stopped. He looked at me.

"Do you want to be on top?" he asked.

"I can do that," I whispered and soon I was riding him with his strong hands on my hips helping me. This position had never made me feel very confident, but with Eric it was something else. His smile and the lust in his eyes, his hands on my hips and the way he bucked his hips to meet my motions, not to mention the way he hit a very sweet spot inside me, made this my new favorite way to make love.

I held on to his strong chest, but then I wanted to feel his body close to me. I pulled at his shoulders and he obliged and came to a sitting position. A little shifting around and he was leaning against the head post and I kept moving while nuzzling his neck.

Suddenly his hands grabbed my hips even harder and our rhythm became faster, more intense and before I knew it, I had to jump ship with a moan and Eric followed right behind me.

I was exhausted and slipped down in bed. Eric threw another condom in the waste basket before spooning me with a sated sigh.

"Oh Sookie," he whispered while kissing my neck.

Then we both dozed off.

* * *

**A/N:**

Soooo, was it worth the wait?

I have a question for the post-cabin story. My beautiful beta **Rascalthemutant** has begged me to do two things: to let Eric keep his memory of what happened in the cabin when he is back to his old self and to not to include Quinn in the story at all.

Who can say no to Rascal? Of course her two wishes make it a little harder to write the story the way I originally planned to, but I have a plan B too so I`ll let you guys decide: Quinn or no Quinn? Memory loss or no memory loss? (and then I can blame you if both Quinn and memory loss are in the story after all. "They made me do it, Rascal" – oh, I am evil).


	19. Chapter 19

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 19**

A/N:

Wow, I was so impressed with the number of you who took the time to answer my questions in chapter 18. The verdict is pretty easy: Eric will remember everything happening in the cabin (but I`m not saying he will be comfortable with it all – we can`t have flowers and honey and happy ever after already, right?). And Quinn may or may not join the story, but not as Sookie`s love interest. We don`t want her to be "babed" :-P

Thank you so much for all the great reviews you sent. I ate them all instead of chocolate so they are good for my health too :-D

And thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** at the Alexander Skarsgård Library forum for reading this and telling me she understood what I was trying to say in this chapter.

Finally I am explaining what happened to Viking Games. I`m sorry if it`s a bit boring, but Norway is a country with very few murders and a high degree of bureaucracy. Since I`m trying to make the story credible in a Norwegian context, and we live pretty boring lives, this is what you`ll get.

If you want more insight to the whole SVM-world, I can recommend the new story **Peppermintyrose** has started; **Consumption**.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_Eric entered me again, but just when he was inside, he stopped. He looked at me._

"_Do you want to be on top?" he asked._

"_I can do that," I whispered and soon I was riding him with his strong hands on my hips helping me. This position had never made me feel very confident, but with Eric it was something else. His smile and the lust in his eyes, his hands on my hips and the way he bucked his hips to meet my motions, not to mention the way he hit a very sweet spot inside me, made this my new favorite way to make love. _

_I held on to his strong chest, but then I wanted to feel his body close to me. I pulled at his shoulders and he obliged and came to a sitting position. A little shifting around and he was leaning against the head post and I kept moving while nuzzling his neck._

_Suddenly his hands grabbed my hips even harder and our rhythm became faster, more intense and before I knew it, I had to jump ship with a moan and Eric followed right behind me. _

_I was exhausted and slipped down in bed. Eric threw another condom in the waste basket before spooning me with a sated sigh. _

"_Oh Sookie," he whispered while kissing my neck. _

_Then we both dozed off. _

* * *

**Chapter 19:**

I wasn`t asleep for long. I was hungry, thirsty, needed to use the bathroom and generally had ants in my pants (if I had been wearing pants, that is) from lying in a bed in the middle of the afternoon.

After having fixed my basic needs, I figured I would call Pam and check in on things. I was a bit embarrassed that I hadn`t called her before. I knew she needed all the PR-help she could get and I had let her set sails all alone without me as a lifeboat.

I sighed deeply. I had been too busy fucking her brother to worry about Pam or their company. Not very professional.

"_Ja?"_ was Pam`s short answer.

"Hi, Pam. This is Sookie. I was just calling to get an update and to ask if you had heard anything else on why the police shook up Eric so badly."

"Sookie!" You could almost hear Pam smile and I smiled back. "So tell me, is my brother getting his Viking sword polished?"

First I didn`t really get what she was saying. Call me a prude, but for me Viking swords are something stored in museums, not something brothers get polished. Then my smile died and I blushed so hard, I could have been used as a light-house.

"That is really none of your business, Pam," I said with the sternest voice I could muster.

Pam laughed. "You just answered my question, sweetheart. Good for you, Sookie. You know, Eric has lusted for you since you stepped into his apartment this summer. He was planning on giving you a hard time for being Bill`s girlfriend, but I suppose he just found it impossible to be anything but his usual loving self. Mind you, if you had travelled in different lanes, I would have made a move on you myself. You are honey to a bear, sugar."

"Pam," I almost yelled. "I did not call you to hear about… hmm … honeys, bears or Viking swords. This was strictly a professional call."

"Oh, I`m so offended now, Sookie," Pam said, but she wasn`t offended one bit. "But sure, we can be professional."

"Thank you. So what`s up?"

"I have to be honest, Sookie. This is serious. We have been charged with breaking the laws of competition." Pam made a pause as if she had just said they had been charged with triple ax murder.

"The laws of competition?" I asked. I didn`t get it. "I thought it was about murder or at least the theft of millions of kroners, Pam. Do they really raid a company for breaking the laws of competition?" I shook my head. "And what are the laws of competition, anyway?"

"Sookie, you have come to a small country. Almost no one kills each other here and things are very regulated to ensure that businesses are fair and honest to each other. You can compete, but not unfairly."

"Okay, but is it really so serious that a police investigation would drive your brother into… whatever he is into?"

"Yes, because if Viking Games is found guilty, we will lose the company. Viking Games is everything to Eric."

"Lose the company for breaking some rules of competition? What the hell kind of country is this?" My voice was suddenly high-pitched.

"We like to be able to trust one another in this country and to ensure trust, the state has to weed out the cheaters among us. This is why we have the Norwegian Competition Authority to look out for us."

I stifled a giggle. `The Norwegian Competition Authority` sounded like something out of a cartoon. Or maybe I was just tired.

"I happen to like the regulations," Pam sounded almost offended and then her voice turned sad. "Even if they are working against us right now."

"But if you like the rules, then why did you break them, Pam? Why did Eric jeopardize his company like this?"

"You are assuming that we actually did what we are accused of doing?"

I chose to stay quiet. I remembered the whole Bill-affair and how Eric had lured Bill back and probably made him pay for revealing secrets to Lorena, by making Bill spill some Lorena-beans.

"So glad your faith in us is so high, Sookie."

"What do you expect me to say, Pam? If Lorena is accusing Eric of something, then she might just be right."

Pam laughed, but it wasn`t exactly a girly laughter.

"It isn`t Lorena who is accusing us, Sookie. It`s a game shop chain called Bloksberg and it`s run by Marnie Stonebrook and her brother Mark. They claim we have offered to pay them to stop selling competitor products."

"Bloksberg?" I asked. Why would people called Stonebrook name their business Bloksberg?

"Oh, they claim to be witches, which is just silly. Bloksberg is the place witches went when they met with the devil, according to old superstition. You know, back in the witch hunt days." Pam sighed. "Some people are apparently too bored for their own good. We have people acting to be all kinds of supernatural beings like witches, werewolves and vampires. They are role playing so much they almost believe in it themselves. And the kids are sucking it up. Whatever is wrong with just being a normal, cool person like myself?"

"And now these pretend-witches are accusing Viking Games of trying to get rid of competitors?" I answered. I still didn`t understand how this could create so much trouble. Wasn`t keeping competitors away from the stores standard operational procedure for most companies?

"I can hear that you still don`t see the severity here, Sookie. But let me tell you, this is considered highly illegal in this country. A huge dairy company was fined 40 million kroner just because one sales representative made one offer to one shop to throw out other competitors` cheeses. We are accused of doing it on a large scale. Trust me. This is very serious."

"But you didn`t do it." I tried not to have a question sign at the end of my sentence, but I couldn`t make it an exclamation sign.

"That`s the Sookie I know. Of course we didn`t do it!" Pam started to sound friendly again.

"So what is their proof?"

"Ah, here is the tricky thing. They seem to have an offer in writing signed by Eric. I know Eric would never sign such a thing, but it is strong evidence. Chow is looking into it."

"And Eric can go to jail?"

"Definitely. If Eric is found guilty, he will go to jail. He might not have been imprisoned if he had broken into Bloksberg, but this crime means jail time."

"So this is more serious than burglary?"

Pam laughed. "Let me tell you a story, Sookie, and maybe you`ll understand more of the Norwegian judicial system. A friend of mine had his house broken into when he and his wife were just down the street for a coffee. Their 12-year-old girl was home alone, asleep on the second floor. The noise downstairs woke her up and she was scared out of her senses because she thought the burglars were some kind of monsters who would hurt her badly. They never knew she was there and they left the house without checking the second floor. When they were caught, they were very sorry because they had scared her and their sentence was to work in the garden of this house the whole summer. The girl stood in her window and watched them work and saw that they were normal human beings. At the end of the summer, she gave them lemonade and became sort of friends with them. The sentence was wise, I think, because these two guys started thinking consequences of their actions and my friend saved a lot of money on psychologists for their daughter."

"But Eric is not going to be working in anyone`s garden?" I asked.

"The Justice Department seems to think that burglars can repent, but business people can`t. White collar crimes are punished severely."

We were both quiet for some time.

"So how is the contact with the media going?" I finally asked.

"Good, good. We are yesterday`s news, literally. Everyone understands that Eric is gone and I am apparently not as interesting so they are leaving us pretty much alone now."

"Be careful, Pam. The media never just leave a good story alone. The other shoe is going to drop any minute now."

"Don`t worry, Sookie. It`ll be fine. Just make sure my brother is fine." There was a pause and I just knew what she was going to say so I rolled my eyes in advance. "Just make sure you have enough sword polish and everything will be perfect," she laughed and then hung up.

I fired up my computer and went to look at the homepage of The Norwegian Competition Authority. Luckily they had some basic information in English and when I was finished reading it, I tried to work my way through the Norwegian information. My conclusion was that they really took threats to free competition seriously in this weird country.

I leaned back and let my thoughts wander. Then I heard a sound from the bedroom. I walked quietly over and pushed the door open. What I saw just broke my heart. Eric was crying. Not screaming crying, but silent tears running down his cheeks and the look of despair in his eyes.

"Oh, Eric," I said and crawled up in bed with him. I held him close and he wrapped his arms and legs around me. I felt like a large security blanket. I kissed the top of his head.

"It`s going to be fine, Eric," I said, but even I could hear how much I sounded like a mother trying to reassure her kid. It was not the way I wanted to sound when I was in bed with Eric. I wriggled myself free of his arms and legs, jumped out of bed and pulled him with me.

"Come on. We`ll make ourselves a nice dinner, watch some television and Pam and Chow will sort this mess out."

XXXX

Dinner brought back the Eric I knew so I assumed the tears were partly because he had skipped a meal. After dinner we went for the couch and put on the television and a fire in the fire place. Soon Eric`s smile was back and so were his able hands.

The television showed a Norwegian version of `So You Think You Can Dance?`, but I couldn`t say how the game show host, the actor or the cross country skier danced because Eric had started kissing my neck and his hands were under my shirt, giving my breast the most tender loving care.

Soon we were naked in front of the fire-place, making the sweetest love I had ever made. It was slow, it was good and it was very emotional. Afterwards I was panting and looking Eric deep in the eyes.

"You are beautiful," he suddenly said.

No one had ever looked me in the eyes and said that. I found I had to lower my head. "You are smart, and you are loyal," he said relentlessly, though I waved a hand to ask him to quit. "You have a sense of fun and adventure."

"Cut it out," I said.

"Make me," he said. "You have the most beautiful breasts I've ever seen. You're brave." I put my fingers across his mouth, and his tongue darted out to give them a quick lick. I relaxed against him, feeling the tingle down to my toes. "You're responsible and hardworking," he continued. Before he could tell me that I was good about replacing the garbage can liner when I took the garbage out, I replaced my fingers with my lips.

"There," he said softly, after a long moment. "You're creative, too."

For the next half-hour, he showed me that he, too, was creative.

xxxx

Afterwards, Eric kept paying me compliments and I realized I hadn't said anything to him that indicated my admiration. That hardly seemed fair. He was holding me, and my head was on his shoulder. I murmured into his neck, "You are so beautiful."

"What?" He was clearly startled.

"You've told me you thought my body was nice." Of course that wasn't the adjective he'd used, but I was embarrassed to repeat his actual words. "I just wanted you to know I think the same about you."

I could feel his chest move as he laughed, just a little. "What part do you like best?" he asked, his voice teasing.

"Oh, your butt," I said instantly.

"My... bottom?"

"Yep."

"I would have thought of another part."

"Well, that's certainly... adequate," I told him, burying my face in his chest. I knew immediately I'd picked the wrong word.

"Adequate?" He took my hand, placed it on the part in question. It immediately began to stir. He moved my hand on it, and I obligingly circled it with my fingers. "This is adequate?"

"Maybe I should have said it's a gracious plenty?"

"A gracious plenty. I like that," he said.

We were going for round three when we suddenly heard the television turning from celebrity dancers to the news and when the words `Viking Games` were mentioned in the headlines, we quickly rearranged ourselves and went back to the couch.

A woman came into the picture and I could hear Eric gasp. I gasped too when I saw her name on the screen: Sophie Anne Northman-Ravenscroft.

"Is that your mother, Eric?" I asked.

He just nodded.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope the explanation made sense to you – and that you enjoyed the Gracious Plenty being mentioned. We can`t have a fanfic without the Gracious Plenty, now can we?

_Kyss og klem_ (kiss and hug)


	20. Chapter 20

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 20**

**A/N**

It really has been a while now, huh? Well, the flu (yes, THE flu) and me arranging a PR conference (yes, I gave a lecture in crisis communications haha), just stole all my time. I`m sorry!

I really appreciated all the reviews you gave the last chapter. And it warmed my heart that this story attracted new subscribers every day in my hiatus. It pulled me back to my laptop!

Thank you very much to **Rascalthemutant** for reading this, correcting my mistakes AND pointing out that a certain couple forgot to put on a condom. *rolls eyes at herself* Well, they are wearing a condom now, Rascal. *goes to sit in the corner*

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_We were going for round three when we suddenly heard the television turning from celebrity dancers to the news and when the words `Viking Games` were mentioned in the headlines, we quickly rearranged ourselves and went back to the couch. _

_A woman came into the picture and I could hear Eric gasp. I gasped too when I saw her name on the screen: Sophie Anne Northman-Ravenscroft. _

"_Is that your mother, Eric?" I asked._

_He just nodded. _

* * *

**Chapter 20:**

Eric`s mother looked great and definitely knew it too. She could thank her dentist for her great teeth and her hairdresser for her beautiful hair, but the rest was a mixture of great DNA, high self-esteem and a commitment to the art of looking her best.

Sophie Anne Northman-Ravenscroft owned the television screen from the moment she walked onto it. All the reporters had goofy smiles plastered on their faces and none of them managed to ask her any tough questions. Unless being asked about the name of your dress designer is considered a tough question.

"Wow, you mother is an extraordinary woman, Eric," I said with my eyes focused on the television screen. It wasn`t until I heard a sneer, I looked at him and understood that Eric wasn`t one of Sophie Anne Northman-Ravenscroft`s admirers.

Eric stood up, got dressed and before I knew what he was doing, he was out the door.

You can say a lot of great things about snow and freezing temperatures, but it is definitely not weather for running out in your t-shirt and panties, even if your lover is distressed and sad.

It took me a good ten minutes to get dressed. I`m not used to wearing long underwear, scarf and woolen hat. When I got out, I could follow Eric`s footprints down to the road, but after that, he was gone.

"Shit," I said loudly to myself and the moose, wolves and mice out on nocturnal business. Or maybe moose, wolves and mice were asleep? I felt utterly alone.

It was dark, but when I looked up, I could see all the stars. The Milky Way was a white band of little dots up there and made me feel even smaller. I hadn`t seen that amount of stars since I had been at Gran`s place in Bon Temps and it seemed like ages ago now.

I went inside and dialed up Pam.

Xxxx

Eric was back inside when Pam came to the cabin. He didn`t speak much and I didn`t make him. Pam of course was made of a different material than me. She didn`t let Eric off that easy,

"I hear that you saw Mommy Dearest?" Pam made a wave towards the television.

Eric grunted.

"Yeah well, that`s how I feel about her too. And if you don`t remember the last 20 years of her, you haven`t missed much." Pam`s usual carefree voice had an edge of bitterness. And love. She gave Eric`s shoulder a quick stroke. Then she looked at me.

"Our relationships with our mother is … troubled, Sookie. Just when we think she has accepted that we are adults, she is back trying to run our lives for us. She is like a queen and we are her little subjects."

Eric nodded and I couldn`t help wondering what he could remember of his mother in his current state.

"She has been especially hard on big bro-` here," Pam patted Eric`s back. "Seeing him as the heir to the throne and all."

Eric`s shoulders caved in on him and I just wanted to go over and give him a hug. For some reason I didn`t. Instead my inner PR-person checked in.

"Your mother seems to hold some special power over the media here. Can we use it to our advantage? Can we make her play on our team, I mean really be a team player?" I asked.

Eric and Pam were siblings and their pattern of reactions were usually pretty alike, but not now. Where Pam sported a shit-eating grin, Eric looked like he was being forced to eat shit.

"You can talk her into it, Eric. You are her golden boy." Pam was excited. Eric was not.

It took Pam and me almost an hour to talk Eric into asking his mother to help him save Viking Games. In the end Eric just resigned, sitting down with his head in his palms. I felt bad for him and if it hadn`t been because I thought this idea could be the much needed turn-around for Eric`s company, I would never have forced him to do something he so clearly hated doing.

Eric sighed and looked at me with a blank stare. Then he got up.

"I suppose there isn`t much point in staying at the cabin if I am going to talk to mother tomorrow."

"Chow is going to report to me tomorrow morning and I suppose all three of us might as well listen to him." Pam got up too.

I looked at Pam and realized that it hadn`t been a walk in the park handling the problems in Viking Games all alone. I suddenly felt bad about having had fun with her brother. I blushed slightly at the thought of some of the `fun` we had had, while Pam had had to face the media alone.

I went to my room and started to pack. I couldn`t help staring at the bed where Eric and I had made love. I wondered what would happen to Eric and me when we got back to Oslo. I wondered if there even was an `Eric and me`.

Xxx

I could see Pam`s tail lights when I started the car that had brought Eric and me to the cabin. Eric sat in the passenger`s seat, staring out the window.

We drove in silence for an hour. Then Eric took my hand, brought it to his mouth and kissed it. I looked over at him and smiled. After Eric had thoroughly kissed every finger, my hand found a nice, warm spot on his thigh and felt very much at home there.

When we came to the Oslo city limits, Eric`s body tensed visibly and I wasn`t feeling too good myself. We had left the easy fun at the cabin and now we had to start fighting.

When I parked the car outside Eric`s house, he looked at me for the first time since we had left the mountains.

"We could go back," he said. In the dome light of the car, his face looked hard as stone. "We could go back to the cabin. I could stay with you always. We could know each other's bodies in every way, night after night. I could love you." His nostrils flared, and he looked suddenly proud. "We could find something to do. Maybe even go back to your country. We could live together, be together."

"Sounds like a marriage," I said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. But my voice was too shaky.

"Yes," he said.

And he would never be the president of Viking Games. He would be a false version of Eric, an Eric cheated out of his true life. Providing our relationship (such as it was) lasted, he would come to resent me for making him give up his life.

_Enough with the negative thinking, Sookie_, I told myself. I would be a total idiot to pass up living with this gorgeous man for however long. We actually had a good time together, and I enjoyed Eric's sense of humor and his company, to say nothing of his lovemaking. Now that he'd lost his memory, he was lots of uncomplicated fun.

And that was the fly in the ointment. We would have a counterfeit relationship, because this was the counterfeit Eric. I'd come full loop.

I slid out of the car with a sigh. "I'm a total idiot," I said as he came around the back of the car to walk with me to the house.

Eric didn't say anything. I guess he agreed with me.

Xxxx

We went into the house, keeping the lights turned off as Pam had suggested. No need to advertise Eric`s homecoming to the reporters.

I looked at my watch and found out it was 2 in the morning and my yawning seemed well justified.

"I`m going to bed, Eric," I announced and quickly brushed my teeth, put on my night gown and climbed under the covers. Before my head hit the pillow, I was out.

Xxx

I woke up with a startle. Someone was in my room, on his way into my bed. Memories of Bill`s rape clouded my vision and I started screaming.

Lights were turned on and a familiar voice tried to calm me down.

"I`m sorry, Sookie. I thought this was my room. I didn`t know you were sleeping here."

I looked at Eric and then I remembered that this actually used to be his room.

"No, Eric. I`m sorry. You gave me your room when … something happened in my own room. Something that made me uncomfortable sleeping there. You took the room at the other end of the hallway."

Eric started walking out of my room, but he looked as if he was walking in something sticky. And that there were magnets in the bed and in his butt. He didn`t want to leave.

"Do you want to sleep here tonight, Eric?

I didn`t have to ask twice before he jumped into bed.

I rolled over on my side, turning my back to Eric. Eric took the hint pretty quickly and scooped over and spooned me. I sighed. Having someone to spoon me every night would be more than enough reason for me to marry. Spooning was heaven.

I relaxed into Eric`s chest and was halfway to Dreamland when I felt something familiar stirring against my thigh.

The Gracious Plenty.

It was strange what great sex did to you. It could be in the middle of the night, you could be tired enough to pass out, but when the scent of great sex hit your nose, you were fit for fight.

I couldn`t help moving my butt and thigh to meet his pulsing length, which was all the encouragement Eric needed. Soon I had his lips on my neck, his hands on my breasts and his Gracious Plenty being pushed into my thigh in rhythmic movements.

I let out a moan, knowing where this was going. I knew I was on Orgasm Road, on Thrill Way, on Enjoyment Avenue. I was just buying a one-way ticket to Paradise on Earth.

I ground my butt into Eric, rewarding me with a moan into my neck, a moan that made my hair stand up and my nipples harden. Oh, I had it bad when just a moan could get that kind of reaction from my body.

After some grounding and neck-kissing, I found out that I wanted more personal sex than back-to-chest. I wanted to look Eric in the eyes. I had no idea what tomorrow would bring and I wanted to make sure I got to enjoy every minute of today. Even if today technically was tomorrow since it was past midnight. Arrgh, never mind. I had a sexy Viking to pillage.

Eric and I kissed deeply, then even deeper and finally I was afraid we would be switching tongues. Our hands roamed frantically through each other`s hair, down each other`s backs and trying to remove each other`s clothes.

It was a pretty easy task for me since Eric was only wearing his boxers, but I had to make a long cotton night gown disappear. After some tugging and pulling, I sat up and pulled it over my head.

When my nightgown was covering my face, Eric launched himself on my breasts. He sucked one and caressed the other and as soon as the nightgown was on the floor, he pushed me down on my back, got in between my thighs with his knees and kissed my breasts even more intensely.

Eric was sweet and intense at the same time. It felt as if he also wanted to make a lasting impression. And he certainly managed.

Soon he was kissing my lips, and I don`t mean the ones on my face. I arched my back at the intense pleasure he was building. He sucked, licked and nibbled with his lips in a speed that pushed me uphill to Grand Orgasm Canyon. Before I knew it, I was standing on the edge of a very deep free fall. An extra suck and I was flowing out in the air, screaming Eric`s name so loudly and for such a long time, the letter E was becoming threatened by extinction because of my overuse.

I was just about to land from my orgasm, when I felt someone knocking at my door. My legs knew what was coming and spread out wide and tucked the ankles around Eric`s waist. Eric pulled back a little and whispered "condom?" I cursed loudly because I didn`t have any, but Eric jumped out of the bed, ran out of my room and came back sporting a huge grin – and a latex covered Gracious Plenty.

I couldn`t help laughing and Eric jumped back into bed with me.

Eric stretched out over my body, kissing my mouth deeply and entering me slowly and with a deep moan from the both of us.

Eric was not in a hurry. It was obvious that he wanted to save every taste, sound and smell tonight. I also had my mental scrap book out, taking mental pictures and making fun little notes. This was definitely something to remember on a rainy day.

My orgasm jar was filled that night.

Tomorrow we would hear what Chow had to say and we would plan a counterattack involving Eric`s mother – against Eric`s will.

* * *

**A/N:**

I know, I know, I`m keeping you at the edge of your seat for the action, but as you can see – I prefer to write the Eric-Sookie part. I hope you don`t mind ;-)


	21. Chapter 21

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 21**

**A/N**

It`s been a while now, huh? I have no excuses apart from this chapter being so hard to write. Ugh.

Thank you for all your lovely reviews and PMs. Some of you were pretty worried that I would stop writing Work Permit when I started **Dead on a Football Field**. So far from it! Football Field is pure fun to write (and I hope to read) and was just what I needed when I struggled with this one.

Thank you again to the lovely **Rascalthemutant** of the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum. I sent her this chapter late last night and this morning I got it back with comments and some soothing words. She is the perfect beta and if all goes well, she`ll also publish a great story soon (yes, I said it, Rascal - you have to publish now, right?? :-D)

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

_I couldn`t help laughing and Eric jumped back into bed with me. _

_Eric stretched out over my body, kissing my mouth deeply and entering me slowly and with a deep moan from the both of us. _

_Eric was not in a hurry. It was obvious that he wanted to save every taste, sound and smell tonight. I also had my mental scrap book out, taking mental pictures and making fun little notes. This was definitely something to remember on a rainy day. _

_My orgasm jar was filled that night. _

_Tomorrow we would hear what Chow had to say and we would plan a counterattack involving Eric`s mother – against Eric`s will. _

* * *

**Chapter 21:**

The bed was empty when I woke up and to my huge shock and surprise, it was almost 11 a.m. I took a quick shower, got dressed and went to the living room where I heard voices.

Chow had apparently come and he, Pam and Eric were deep in conversation. Eric looked up with a smile when I entered.

"Why didn`t you wake me?" I asked.

"You looked so peaceful." He came over and gave me a kiss. Chow tried not to stare in surprise. "So do you want breakfast or lunch," Eric asked on his way to the kitchen.

I quickly passed him. "I can go fix myself some breakfast."

When I came back to the living room, I heard the word `press conference` or rather `pressekonferanse` since they were speaking Norwegian.

"Whoa, what are you planning here? Care to include your PR-expert?" I said, shaking my head.

Eric looked at me. "Chow has made some vital discoveries and we wanted to get it out to everyone and fast. We thought a press conference would be the best way to do it."

"Press conferences are really a thing of the past, unless you are the king announcing a new grandchild or the Nobel Peace Prize committee announcing this year`s winner. But let me hear what you have and we`ll decide what to do with it."

Chow looked at me with his dark brown eyes. Then he started talking. And talking. The man had been busy digging up information, both legally and illegally. Mainly illegally. Unless it has suddenly become legal to hack into computers and break into homes.

"As we all know," Chow said, looking at me with sad eyes, "Eric has had quite a few love affairs and not all of them ended happily. We have all been witness to what MaryAnn did to you," he nodded at my back. "She was my first guess and I checked her out, but apparently her idea of revenge is more in the ways of pushing girls into fences than corporate scheming."

I looked at Eric who apparently found his feet very interesting.

"After having checked a few other nutcases in Eric`s little black book of lovers, I decided to look in another direction. Pam here..." Chow pointed in Pam`s direction, "hasn`t been able to keep check on all the skirts entering and leaving this house."

"Or his car, cabin or wherever else he would take them," Pam supplemented.

Thank you very much for that piece of information, Pam.

"Well, I figured I would check on Marnie Stonebrook, the person who has actually accused Eric here and bingo, I hit jackpot. Apparenly Eric and Marnie had had a fling at some conference last year and she had put so much more into it than he had." Chow looked at Eric. "I know you don`t remember it now Eric, but a word of wisdom – don`t screw a woman and promise her a merger at the same time and then forget all about it the next day. I think you could have saved yourself a lot of grief if you at least had answered one of her many calls."

Eric actually had the decency to look embarrassed.

What he told us, or rather me because Eric and Pam apparently knew already, was definitely worth a press conference. If we could have actually told the story.

"So which parts of this information are legally obtained?" I asked when Chow had finished speaking. "Is there anything we can turn over to the police?"

Chow looked down and then we all went through the material again. No use in having a press conference if you are just going to say that you have broken another law from the one you were originally accused of breaking.

Xxxx

We didn`t have a press conference to my great joy. Instead Pam contacted an old pal at Aftenposten, the largest non-tabloid paper in Norway and handed over the story to him, telling him he couldn`t reveal sources, but that she, Eric and their mother would love to comment on it. Extensively. And exclusively.

According to Pam the reporter almost drooled when he heard what Pam had for him and she never heard any complaints about the legality of the documentation. Or that the sources were to be secret. The only question she got was if her mother would also be willing to do a more general interview. Perhaps with her two loving children? Pam promised to check with her brother and mother, but I had a feeling that interview would never happen.

"You should do this," I said with enthusiasm in my voice. "It`s a perfect time for you to show the world who you are. It makes the statement so much more valid if people actually like you too."

Eric and Pam looked at each other.

"You should call your mother now, Eric. Swallow a few camels and we are back in the saddle," I said with a plastered on smile.

Eric definitely looked like he was swallowing camels when he was thinking about the call he knew he would have to make. He was swallowing camels, tents, deserts, belly dancers and two pyramids by the looks of it. I felt sorry for him, but tried to keep my eye on the target.

Then Eric got up and shrugged.

"I suppose you can`t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. Shall I ask her to come straight over?"

Xxxx

Sophie Anne Northman-Ravenscroft was the kind of woman who would steal the room when she entered it, and I don`t mean that she ran off with the silverware. She had something about her that was impossible to ignore. A radiance of some kind. And after having kissed both her kids, and ignored Chow totally, she set her assessing eyes on me.

"So you are Sookie? I have heard so much about you," she said in a way that made me think that she really had heard much about me. As in having someone dig up information about me.

I went deep in myself and found `confident Sookie` somewhere – and gave Eric`s mother my most winning smile.

"Hello," I answered politely. Gran would have been proud of me. I held out my hand and Mrs. Northman-Ravenscroft took it and spun me around, much to my surprise. No part of my body was left unscrutinized by Eric`s mother.

"Yes, yes, very well," she said in a tone that made me feel like I was some prize cattle waiting to be sold. My dignity was somewhere on the floor and I did my best to scrape it up and fill myself with it again.

"Can we get down to business?" I asked after my spin had stopped and I had regained my balance, at least physically. "It seems that you are the wet dream of any Norwegian reporter and I hope we can use that."

I should have felt mortified over calling the mother of my lover (which was what she was to me, I decided. She was the mother of my boss too, but that was not how it felt) a wet dream, but this was my way of standing ground with her.

She didn`t seem to complain. Actually she seemed quite pleased.

"Yes, I am a wet dream, as you say, for any reporter here. I don`t give many interviews, but when I heard the trouble my dear," she looked at Pam and Eric "children were in, I of course had to come and I`m willing to do anything for my babies." She was almost theatrical when she said `anything`. "I usually handle my own PR, but what do you suggest, Sookie?"

I became `PR-Sookie` and handed her the mental list I had made of how I wanted her to act, what I wanted her to say and how I wanted her to say it. I did not say what she shouldn`t say, that`s a big no-no when you talk to reporters. Nine out of ten times you would blurt out with just that. It`s like saying to people "don`t think of a white horse." Everyone gets a white horse on their minds.

"So we agree on all of this, Mrs. Northman-Ravenscroft?" I asked, having Pam`s suicide PR-stunt fresh in memory. I wanted to make sure at least one member of the Northman-Ravenscroft family used my skills.

"My dear Sookie." She wrapped her hands around one of mine. "I do hope you will call me Sophie-Anne," she smiled to me. I smiled back, but when I glanced at Eric, his eyes were very dark and it made me stifle my smile a bit. "Your plan sounds wonderful and I can see why my son hired you." She had a way of making that sound as if I was hired for more than my "wonderful" plan.

Xxxx

The reporter came by, and I got to see the `Sophie-Anne-effect` up close. She had the reporter around her little finger, playing coy, helpless, strong and wounded all at the same time. The reporter wrote and asked and talked and giggled. I could almost taste the champagne he was going to celebrate on afterwards.

Eric stayed in the background since his memory, or lack of it, could stand in his way of sane answers. Pam added some snark to the conversation, as only Pam could, and Chow and I were quiet.

After an hour of journalistic admiration, Sophie-Anne started to get frustrated.

"Weren`t you supposed you bring a photographer too?" she asked.

Pam groaned and rolled her eyes and Eric channeled an inner sad kid.

As if on cue the doorbell rang and a female photographer entered. As much as the male reporter had been in awe over being in the same room as Sophie-Anne, the photographer immediately checked out Eric. I decided I didn`t like that photographer. Sophie-Anne coughed lightly and then the photographer went star-struck over her instead.

"I just need to freshen up a little," Sophie-Anne smiled and went to the bathroom. When she came back twenty minutes later, she wore a thick layer of makeup. It looked phony in real life, but I had seen enough pictures to know that it would look great in the paper.

The photographer took pictures of Sophie-Anne, of Eric, of Pam and of all of them. Chow and I were silent spectators. Then the reporter said "take a few of those two too, just to be on the safe side," and my natural and non-glamorous face was also inside the memory stick of the camera.

One would think that the anticipation of getting Viking Game`s and Eric`s names cleaned in one fine stroke, would make us giddy and happy. We were so far from it. Eric was broody, Chow was quiet and Pam was snarky – and not in her usual fun way.

And Sophie-Anne gave me the third degree. I tried to be polite. I mean, I was brought up being polite to people`s mothers. But that didn`t mean I felt comfortable.

After a quick dinner, and this time it wasn`t some delicious thing Eric had cooked – it was pizza delivered by some acne-plagued teenager, I went to bed.

I lay awake for some time in the hope that Eric would come too, but he never did.

Xxxxx

Well, he did come, but not until the next morning when he jumped into my bed with a yell that would have scared Tarzan and made all the animals of the jungle worship their new king Eric.

"The paper is here and the article is gooooood." His mother had apparently never taught him that you shouldn`t jump on the furniture because I was bounced up and down by a 7-year-old in a huge body.

Pam came into my bedroom too.

"It`s fun how I started out my life by having a big brother and now I`m suddenly the old and wise one," she said with a smile.

I picked up the paper and was amazed to see that our story had hit the front page.

"_De anklagende anklages"_ was the headline. "The accusers are being accused."

I read the article through very fast and then I reread it, asking Eric and Pam for translations whenever I met a word I hadn`t learned yet.

"Aftenposten can today exclusively tell you the story of a woman scorned and how she tried to seek revenge. Because of a broken heart owner of Bloksberg, Marnie Stonebrook, accused Viking Games and its owner, flamboyant Eric Northman, of having broken the Laws of Competition. The accusations against Viking Games are unfounded."

There were huge pictures of a smiling Pam, Eric and Sophie-Anne, but also a serious picture of Eric with the caption: "Had I known she would be so upset when I broke up with her, I would never have been involved with her in the first place."

This triggered something in me and my smile faded. My brain did a quick run-through of the women who had done crazy things for love after I had come to Norway.

Marne Stonebrook had tried to break Eric because he had rejected her, MaryAnn had hurt me for the same reason. Lorena had manipulated Bill. And then there was the case of Debbie who had… well, no need to ruin my good mood, I decided.

Love was crazy and I got a sudden case of cold feet towards Eric. How could I know that I wouldn`t be the next scorned woman in his life? The next one to do crazy things because he rejected me?

I huffed and went to the bathroom. I jumped into the shower and tried to let the water wash my brain and clear out all the sad thoughts. Instead I ended up crying. I knew the few days I had had at the cabin with Eric wouldn`t come back and I knew I would have to build something else instead. But how? I hadn`t trusted Eric before he lost his memory and being reminded of his extensive love life didn`t exactly enhance my faith in him and any relationship we might have in the future.

I looked in the mirror and figured I would just have to play it by ear. There was really not anything else I could do.

When I came out to my bedroom again I found Eric sitting on my bed, his face buried in his hands.

He looked up at me as I entered the room, and he looked shocked. Well, no wonder, what with everything that had happened the last few days.

"Sitting here on your bed, smelling your scent and reading the newspaper," he said in a voice so low I had to strain to hear it.

"Sookie... I remember everything."

I started to smile, but my smile was killed by Eric`s angry eyes.

"Are you pleased with yourself now, Sookie?" he spat out.

* * *

**A/N:**

Oh, I`m cruel with the cliffie.

Before you ask – the relationship Eric - Sophie-Anne will be explained.

Hope you liked this chapter.

_Jeg vil ha snøen tilbake - hulk hulk _(I want the snow back - buhuu)


	22. Chapter 22

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 22**

**A/N:**

These last few chapters have been hard to write (which is why it`s taking me so long). I prefer writing about people finding each other, not people turning away from each other. But that`s part of life and certainly part of the SVM-world. This is why all your great reviews and PMs have warmed my heart so much.

As you can see, I`m still following the books, but jumping a bit back and forth. Generally speaking, we are now at the end of book 4. And no, I`m not having Debbie Pelt`s brains all over Eric`s curtains.

I really want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for reading this through and giving it thumbs up. And for reminding me of Debbie Pelts last name. My brain is not made for remembering names. Arrgh!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_When I came out to my bedroom again I found Eric sitting on my bed, his face buried in his hands._

_He looked up at me as I entered the room, and he looked shocked. Well, no wonder, what with everything that had happened the last few days._

"_Sitting here on your bed, smelling your scent and reading the newspaper," he said in a voice so low I had to strain to hear it._

"_Sookie... I remember everything."_

_I started to smile, but my smile was killed by Eric`s angry eyes._

"_Are you pleased with yourself now, Sookie?" he spat out. _

**Chapter 22**

I just stared at him. Yes, I was pleased with myself. We had just had an article in the most important newspaper in Norway, an article that would most likely get Viking Games back on its feet and now it seemed Eric was well too.

And yet he sounded like I had taken the last chocolate from his candy bag. Angry, disappointed, sad.

"What do you mean, `am I pleased with myself`, Eric?" I asked in a neutral tone of voice.

"Why did you finally decide to sleep with me, Sookie?" Eric got up and came over to me. He looked like a predator, ready to jump his victim.

"Why? Is sleeping with you a bad thing now, Eric?" I hissed. Then I ran out the door and remembered to slam it too. Yay for childish me.

I was fuming my way through the streets of Oslo. If the snow plowing people hired by the city wondered why some streets were suddenly free of snow, it would have been me melting it with my anger.

After a while I cooled down and then some. I had been walking in circles with no destination. My realizing that I had nowhere to go when I was angry with Eric made me sick to my stomach. He was my landlord, my living companion, my boss and, at least for a short period, my lover. His sister and a few colleagues were the only other people I knew in this cold city. Well I also knew Alcide and Debbie, but they were not really on the top of my `people I call when I`m in pain`-list.

I`d never really been a person with a lot of close friends, but on a cold bench in the Vigeland park, I made a decision to try and make friends in the future. Back home I really only had Tara, who was my childhood friend, and she had never been one I could confide in. We could go dancing together, but were never really close.

I swallowed my self-pity, got up and made a few resolutions with myself. I would create a life for myself here in Norway, independent of Eric and Pam, and I would have fun doing it.

With that new found inner strength I decided to go back to Eric`s house and check out some possibilities on my computer. Maybe I could find friends online, maybe I could join a charity or maybe I could do some more evening classes on top of the Norwegian classes I was taking?

When I came to Eric`s house, I decided to tip toe. I didn`t want to see Eric and I certainly didn`t want to talk to him.

I put the key in the lock and gently pushed the door open. I was all the way inside and trying to close the door quietly when I heard voices from the living room. I am usually not one to eavesdrop, but I froze like the statues in the park I had just visited when I heard Chow.

"As I told you on the phone, Eric, you are not going to like what I`m going to tell you now."

They spoke Norwegian, but it was loud and clear and I got most of it.

"Just get on with it. I keep thinking she can`t hurt me anymore, but I`m pretty sure you are going to prove me wrong, right?"

For a short second I thought Eric was referring to me, but then I shook it off. I hadn`t hurt Eric repeatedly, had I?

"I took a good look at e-mails going in and out of Maryann`s computer, trying to find out who was messing with Viking Games, and it seems that she has had long chats with your mother," Chow said.

"I don`t really consider her my mother, you know," Eric growled.

"Ahm yes well. Would you like to know what they discussed? I have transcripts here."

I could hear paper crinkle.

"As much as a husband wants to know who his wife is cheating on him with."

"Okay. It seems your mother wanted Maryann to be the next Mrs. Northman. Not that Maryann was unwilling, but they had agreements on how and when your mother was to hook you two up. It seems she even promised Maryann money when she gave birth to your firstborn – an heir."

I couldn`t see Eric`s reactions, but if they were anywhere near mine, he would be devastated. There was silence for some time. Then Eric spoke again.

"I can see on your face this was not all."

"No, not really. It seems your mother did the same thing to Marne Stonebrook."

I heard a heavy sigh.

"My mother was actually in contact with that bitch?"

"Uhm yes. Both before this whole thing and after. Almost promising your hand in marriage. I have the transcripts here."

Again there was a paper rattle. Apparently Chow was well aware of the problems the Norwegian paper industry was facing because it seemed he had paper worth half a forest.

"I ended up looking thoroughly through your mother`s e-mail correspondence and it seems she has tried to find her future daughter-in-law for years. I won`t go into details, but a lot of the women you have had relationships with, have had some kind of connection to your mother."

I heard footsteps and it seemed something was smashed. I also learned some new curse words in Norwegian, but it wasn`t hard to imagine what _jævla drittkjerring_ meant when you knew that _jævla_ was damned, _dritt_ was shit and _kjerring _was bitch. Sophie Anne Northman-Ravenscroft was not a popular woman in this household.

"What about her?" Eric`s voice was tormented.

For a second I wondered who he meant. Then I realized.

"No, I haven`t found anything that linked Sookie to your mother. I even checked Sookie`s mail and her telephone calls. Nothing."

I cringed standing there in the hallway. Had Eric really suspected me of being someone his mother had planted in his life in her efforts to have grandchildren? I decided even standing there eavesdropping was wrong and I sneaked back into my room.

Instead of firing up my computer, I just laid back and let my thoughts wander.

I jumped when my phone rang. I picked it up and noticed that the number was the same Pam had given me, it was the number of the Aftenposten-reporter that had written such a perfect article in today`s paper.

"Sookie Stackhouse," I answered wondering what he wanted.

He sounded serious and spent a few minutes beating around the bush. We talked about the article, I praised him for his writing skills and we talked about what would happen to Viking Games and Marne and Mark Stonebrook.

"I can hear you have something else you want to discuss…" I tried to make him get to the point.

"Yes," he sighed. "And this is not going to be an easy question." He almost sounded embarrassed.

"Then you better ask it quickly and get it over with," I tried to joke, but my throat was dry.

"Okay, here goes. Did Eric Northman rape you?" he asked with a sigh.

"WHAT??!!"

"Well, I know you were raped some time ago and that it happened in Eric Northman`s house. A person has been calling me to tell me you were raped by Eric Northman. She called me directly since my name was on the byline on today`s story about him."

"She?"

He decided to overhear that one.

"I`ve already called Eric Northman about it, but he gave me the `no comments` run around. I really don`t want to print this story, but I`ll have to unless I get something from you. My editor hates letting a top story go."

"And you know who this source is?"

"Well, I went to journalism school so I know how to track down a source – and also never to reveal it."

"Oh, you don`t have to. Her name is Debbie Pelt, right?"

He went quiet.

"I really don`t want my name in the papers in a rape-case, but I want Eric`s name implicated in it even less, because that would be a lie."

Then I started to tell him about Debbie Rowe, the rape and Eric`s innocence. I felt sick to my stomach, talking about it and I just wanted to go to the shower and scrub my body. The reporter was being very nice and gentle and he promised me he would do his best to keep my name out of the story, even if he couldn`t keep the story out of the paper.

We hung up and I was just about to go to the bathroom to scrub Bill`s rape off me when I heard a knock. I knew who it would be and sure enough, Eric stood outside my door.

He looked down at me with not a very happy face. "I find myself troubled," he said without preamble.

"Then I've got to drop everything so I can help you out," I said, going instantly on the offensive.

He cocked an eyebrow. "I'll be polite and ask if I can come in."

"Yes, you can." I stepped back.

"Marne and Mark Stonebrook have been taken into questioning by the police."

"Chow did a good job."

He nodded. "It was Marne or me," he said. "I like me better."

I looked at him. Of course he liked himself better.

"We were together several nights when I lost my memory." Eric had decided to change the subject.

"Yes," I said. I tried to look agreeably interested in what he had to say.

"We made love, but did we share anything else?"

I didn't pretend to misunderstand him. He was talking about the big dangerous word starting with L. And I didn`t mean lust.

"Eric, does that seem likely?" I asked.

He hadn't sat down, and he moved closer to me, as if looking at me hard would reveal the truth. It would have been easy to take a step, be even closer.

"I just don't know," he said. "And it's making me a little aggravated."

I smiled. "Are you enjoying going back to work?"

"Yes. But Pam ran everything well during my absence."

We were quiet for some time. I had a million questions, but I couldn`t ask even one of them. We had been so close and now we were on different planets. He had been through a lot, but so had I. For a short moment I cried inside, then I looked up at him and decided to put an end to this uncomfortable talk.

"I liked you a lot better when you didn't remember who you were," I said, cringing a little, but also feeling a little better for having said it.

"Harsh words," he said, and I almost believed he was really hurt. He looked at me with his ice blue eyes. Then he opened his mouth again. "I`ll have dinner ready in 30 minutes," and then he left.

Xxxxx

I used up almost all the hot water in my shower, but there was probably more water running down the drain than coming out of the shower head. I cried like I had only cried once before since I left my childhood; when Gran died.

My skin was pink from the hot water and the scrubbing and my eyes were red from crying. I just wanted to go to bed and sleep, but I put my sorrow and pain in little boxes inside me, got dressed and went out to Eric and his dinner.

It was just the two of us around the table, but I might as well have been alone. We didn`t talk or laugh. We just ate.

I missed the carefree time before our trip to the cabin. I couldn`t bring myself to miss the lovemaking because that would be too painful to even bring into my brain. But the fun, the jokes, the smiles – I even missed his silly sexual innuendoes.

When I was finished eating, I took my plate, put it in the dishwasher, brushed my teeth and went to bed. I fell asleep momentarily.

Xxxxx

"What the hell did you do?" a male voice yelled and I woke up instantly.

I sat up in bed. It was dark so I wasn`t sure if I had slept an hour or ten. Then I noticed the faint morning light and figured it was around 8 o`clock. Winter was coming and so were apparently the long winter nights.

I looked up and saw Eric waving what appeared to be today`s Aftenposten.

"Have you gone nuts? You told the reporter about the rape?"

I froze. He had promised to keep my name out of it, hadn`t he?

"Why did you do it, Sookie?" Eric looked almost pained.

"To keep you out of the story, of course. Why else would I talk to a perfect stranger about my rape?"

"Well, at least that article killed Debbie Pelt." Eric threw the newspaper over on my bed and I started reading it with a heart the beat very fast.

It wasn`t an article as much as a personal commentary from the reporter. Aftenposten always had one or two commentaries like that every day and this time it was about my rape. Or rather about how Eric had been set up twice in a short time. And both times by jealous women.

My name was not brought up, but Debbie Pelt`s was and that as early as in the headline. At least Debbie Pelt would now be socially dead in all of Norway. It couldn`t unrape me and it couldn`t take back her attempt at having Eric named as a rapist, but it was a small band-aid. A band-aid after an open heart surgery, yes, but still a band-aid.

I got up, put on some clothes and went to Eric in the kitchen.

"Why were you so mad about this article?" I tried to keep my voice neutral.

"And why do you have to be so damn strong all the time? It would have been perfectly normal for a woman not to want to talk to a reporter about these things. Yes, it helped me that you set the records straight, but the sacrifice was too big."

I couldn`t decide if Eric was mad or sad. Or both.

"It wasn`t a sacrifice. It was the right thing to do."

"And you always do the right things, of course." Now he was mad. And he pressed that little red button in me that said `Warning – press this button for major anger attack.`

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Eric? And now you`re at it, explain why you asked me if I was pleased with myself yesterday? Why are you so _jævla_ mad at me?" My temper was apparently at a level where I even spat out Norwegian swear words.

Eric looked at me, his eyes turning dark.

"You need to be in control of things, Sookie, and I`m not so sure I like that. You only slept with me when I was weak and crying like a baby. Not in all the months before when I was my usual strong self. You even admitted that you preferred me when I was weak. I`m much easier to boss around that way, right? Having my mother come in to help us and all."

I tried to interrupt him, but I just looked like some aquarium fish with my mouth bopping open and closed.

"Yes, I`m fully aware of the fact that we did get out on top and that your little chat with the reporter yesterday helped me immensely and I thank you for that." He didn`t look very grateful. "But I will not have you run my life. Only one person runs my life and his name is Eric Northman."

And with that Eric Northman turned around and walked out the door. A few minutes later, approximately the time it takes to put on boots, coat, hat and gloves, I heard the front door opening and closing. Not violently. Just opening and closing.

I felt like I had fallen from the moon.

* * *

**A/N:**  
So is the desire to punch Eric`s nose larger or smaller than after the last chapter?

I want to say a special thank you to **Blue77**. She asked me if she could translate my one-shot **Winter Vampire** into French and I was very flattered. So now I`m officially a translated fanfic-writer (yay!). I just want to mention that **Blue77** has written some great stories in English too. Go read them!


	23. Chapter 23

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 23**

**A/N:**

Today is my birthday and I`m stuffed with chocolate cake and anticipation for my romantic birthday dinner later tonight (yay!).

Thank you so much for all your great reviews and comments. I really love reading them. Especially after the last chapter where half of you wanted to punch Eric in the nose and the other half were ready to give him a hug (some of you probably wanted to do more to him too *wink*).

And thank you to the great **Rascalthemutant** who not only has read this through and weeded out the annoying mistakes I keep making, but also made a great birthday banner at the **Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum**. Wow. Also thank you to all the lovely ladies there for your virtual birthday cakes and beer with birthday candles (you guys know me too well).

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_I tried to interrupt him, but I just looked like some aquarium fish with my mouth bopping open and closed. _

"_Yes, I`m fully aware of the fact that we did get out on top and that your little chat with the reporter yesterday helped me immensely and I thank you for that." He didn`t look very grateful. "But I will not have you run my life. Only one person runs my life and his name is Eric Northman." _

_And with that Eric Northman turned around and walked out the door. A few minutes later, approximately the time it takes to put on boots, coat, hat and gloves, I heard the front door opening and closing. Not violently. Just opening and closing. _

_I felt like I had fallen from the moon. _

* * *

**Chapter 23:**

Eric and I had been avoiding each other for almost a week, which was pretty hard since we both lived and worked together, when he came home and declared he had to go on a business trip.

"But you won`t have to be all alone, Sookie," he said in a voice I couldn`t determine whether it was sarcastic or with real concern for my wellbeing. Given Eric`s state, it was probably both. "Do you remember Charles from the football match you watched this summer? I believe he made some wisecrack remark to you."

The summer seemed so far away. I remembered the football match. I also remembered the nude swimming afterwards and felt my heart sink in sorrow over lost times.

"Yes, I think I remember him vaguely."

"Well, Charles called me and asked if he could stay at my house the next couple of weeks. Apparently they are installing a new bathroom in his apartment and he wants to of shower both morning and night – which he can`t now."

"Okay," I said. What else could I say? If Eric wanted his entire football team to live here, he could. It was his house.

Suddenly he leaned over me and actually had real concern in his eyes for a second or two.

"And I wouldn`t worry about him, Sookie. He`s gay so you`ll be perfectly safe."

I didn`t really know what to think. It was sweet of Eric to make sure I was safe, but I had had enough reminders of Bill`s rape to last me a lifetime.

"Thank you," was all I replied. I kept my face free of any emotions.

Eric looked at me and I suddenly felt like I was under a microscope. "I wish that I could read your mind," he said. "I wish very much that I could know what was going on in your head. I wish I knew why I cared what's going on in that head."

I looked at him and then I looked away, not knowing how to respond. I had a dreadful impulse to say, `You told me you loved me and would stay with me forever.` But I didn`t.

Xxxx

So this was how Charles Twining came into Eric`s house. He was the kind of person you had to like instantly. He met me with a smile, but wasn`t too forward. He stuck out his hand and nodded slightly with his head.

"Charles Twining at your service, madam," he said with a wink.

"Nice to meet you, Charles," I answered with a smile. It was nice to smile again.

Charles was blond like Eric, but that was where all comparison ended. He was short, just a little taller than me, and very thin and bony. He was a bit older than Eric and his face looked as if he had been a sailor or a fisherman. It was very tan for this time of year and also had the wrinkles and thick skin that came with excessive sun tanning. I knew because I had tried to avoid those since I`m a incorrigible lover of the rays – from the sun or from the tanning beds.

Charles was also very sweet and attentive and soon we spent the evenings gossiping like old friends. Even if Charles was Eric`s friend, I felt he became my friend too. He was a great listener and asked me all the right questions.

As Eric`s friend he was obviously curious about what was going on between us and was pretty blunt in his questioning sometimes, but I managed to avoid answering directly. What could I have said? `We flirted for months, had sex when he was sick and now he`s mad at me for some reason`?

I couldn`t even explain it to myself.

Charles never told me much about himself and I figured it was because he had had to keep his love-life a secret when he was younger. Being gay was not a problem to most people here in Norway, but Charles had grown up in a very religious family on the west coast and they had cut all ties to him when he finally told them what he was. Or rather who he loved.

It was a sad story and I felt for him when he told it. He told me not to pity him as he had good friends and a substitute-mother who was very sweet to him.

"We all need love you know, Sookie," he smiled and looked at me. We were on the couch together.

When I didn`t answer, he continued.

"I`ve been asking and asking, honey, but you`ve never told me what the deal between you and Mr. Hunky is. You obviously sleep in his bedroom, but does he sleep there too?"

I just smiled at him. I couldn`t help it. He was nosy, but he was nosy in a charming and sweet way.

"You know that whenever people talk about Eric, your name pops up?"

"Listen," I said, "I don't know what you heard, but he's not... we're not... like that." Charles looked at my face and wisely said nothing. At least for a while. Then he stood up and walked towards the door. Just before he left, he turned around.

"All I know is that Eric hasn`t had any girlfriends since this summer when you came to Oslo. For Eric, that`s a long time." And then he was gone.

I stared at the empty space he left not knowing what that piece of information meant to me. Yes, it was a confirmation that Eric had been dating anything in a skirt before he met me, but it also told me that ….

I got up, not wanting to pursue that thought.

Then the phone rang. I never really liked answering Eric`s phone, but I was the only one around to do it.

"Hello?" I answered. I`d always been taught to answer with your full name, but I couldn`t do that here, not in Eric`s house.

It was quiet on the other end of the line for a minute. Then I heard a well-known voice.

Sookie?" Eric asked.

"Yeah."

"Why didn`t you respond with your name?"

"This is your home, Eric. I just don`t feel comfortable answering your phone." I could hear how silly I sounded.

"Sookie. It`s your home too." He breathed a little. " You know, I`m very so…" There was a pause. I knew what he was trying to say, but it was apparently impossible for him to actually get the word `sorry` over his lips. "One day you and I will have a long talk, Sookie, and I hope I can make you see why I was … why I am … pretty frustrated right now. Now tell me how you and Charles are doing. Is it working out okay?"

I smiled.

"Yes, Charles and I are gossiping like old friends. He is kind and sweet and so much fun to be with." I knew I was exaggerating, but I wasn`t sure why.

"Right," Eric answered and I could almost see his jaw tighten. "And how are things at work? You know it`s very frustrating that I can`t go to my office with everything that`s going on now."

"Don`t worry. Pam is doing great and we have been able to pick up the pieces. We are planning a great campaign for the new game."

"Good, good. It seems I`m at the only place where I`m actually needed right now then," he sighed.

"And where is that?" I had never asked him where he was going.

"Oh, just some family affairs." He was quiet for a while. "So I told you I would go back with you to your country and we could stay together forever?"

I gasped. This was a change of subjects if I`d ever heard one.

"Yes, but I couldn`t let you, could I? Not in the state you were in."

I was probably expecting an emotional scene, maybe some gratitude. I didn`t know what I expected, but not this.

"Quite," he answered. That was all.

We were quiet for some time and I almost wondered if he had hung up on me. Maybe he was checking something on the internet and was so busy looking at hot babes, he forgot I was on the other end of the line. Maybe he was remembering that he hadn`t bought toilet paper. Maybe he was thinking about what I`d said. I had no way of knowing.

Suddenly he coughed a little.

"Should I just move out for good and end it all?" he whispered. "I would never have to think about you again. Thinking about you is an annoying habit, and one I want to be rid of. Or should I come back and we could again have the best sex I've ever had?"

I didn't think I was going to get a vote on this. I cleared my throat. "Eric," I said, a little hoarsely, "we need to talk about something."

"What?" he asked.

"Well, everything. What`s going on? Why are you pulling me onto this emotional rollercoaster?"

Eric was quiet again for a few moments. Now I wanted to check out hot guys online, read the paper or even make doodles with my pen just to occupy my racing emotions with something.

"I`ll be back in a couple of days, Sookie. We`ll talk then." His voice was thick with regret, but I had no idea if it was because he was sorry for the way he had treated me or because he had ever met me.

Xxxxx

I threw myself into work, which wasn`t hard to do. There was more than enough to do with planning the release of the new game and I was dead set on doing everything right. Actually I wanted it to be perfect. I tried to tell myself that it had nothing to do with me proving myself to Eric and everything with making my CV look great for my next job.

But I couldn`t fool myself. I wanted to stay in Oslo and I wanted to be wanted here. And I wanted to be wanted for my skills in PR because I felt that was my safest bet.

I tried not to think about why I wanted to stick around because it certainly wasn`t the weather or the sun that kept me here. With the dark winter nights approaching, my only source of sun was the tanning beds of _Brun og Blid,_ or Tanned and Happy as it would be in English. I settled for at least being tanned.

So I worked my butt off and got home and chatted with Charles - and that was my life those two weeks Eric was away.

Eric did call me from time to time and I felt great and sad at the same time every time I spoke to him. He tried to make sure I still felt welcome in his house and he was a great and reassuring boss. If I had never slept with him, Eric and I would have been perfect friends.

But I had slept with him. And that complicated things.

Luckily I had Charles. I started to confide more in him, which was new for me. He would make _gløgg_ when I came home from work and it took me a while before I realized that the hot, sweet drink with the raisins and nuts actually had vodka in it too. No wonder I loosened up in his company.

I loved coming home to Charles and usually didn`t exactly sneak in the door, but this day I was listening to a voice mail from Eric, of all people, when I walked through the door. This was why I never shouted out that I was home.

I heard Charles on the phone with someone and was about to go to my room to give him some privacy when something he said gave me a déjà vu. And a really bad feeling.

It wasn`t just what he was saying, that made me want to throw up, it was who he was saying it to. Charles was talking to Eric`s mother.

"But would it be so wrong for them to stay together, Sophie Anne? Sookie is a great girl," Charles` enthusiasm wasn`t shared by the person on the other end of the line.

"No, I don`t think they are planning marriage just now, but they might in the future. Eric hasn`t looked at anyone else since this summer and you know how rare it is for him to go for that long without some clinging bimbo hanging around his neck. And Sookie is hard working and a good influence."

I felt like a slave being assessed by the prospective new owner.

"Well, I don`t have that kind of influence, Sophie Anne. I know it`s frustrating for you. I have tried my best to work her." Apparently Sophie Anne wasn`t pleased. "Well, it is hard when you are keeping Eric at this family thing you are all at. They need to be together to get married and they also need to be together to break up. Keeping them from each other just makes Eric stay unmarried and you without grandkids that much longer."

I couldn`t believe my ears. Was it that important for Sophie Anne to get Eric married and have kids?

I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I had never lost my stomach from eavesdropping before, but then this was just sick.

I had to go lie down and once well under the covers in my bed I started to connect the dots. It suddenly made sense why Eric would react this strongly to people trying to run his life. I could not imagine how it would feel to have your mother trying to run your love-life and I could understand why it was so important for him to be strong and not let anyone take any kind of control.

It didn`t excuse his behavior to me, but it might explain it.

There was a knock on the door and Charles` head popped in. I got nauseous again.

"What`s wrong, honey?" Charles looked worried. "I saw your purse on the floor in the hallway. I didn`t even realize you were home." Now his worry had found a friend called `nervous`.

"No, I suppose you didn`t," I answered and he gasped. He knew I had heard. Everything.

"Oh, Sookie honey. You have to realize that I never meant to hurt you. Sophie Anne has been so good to me when I lost my own family and she wanted a small favor. How could I say no?"

"Leave," I said in my calmest tone of voice.

"No, Sookie. Let`s sit down and talk about this." He came over to my bed.

"Will you get your things packed and leave this house? You are no friend of mine and I`m pretty sure you won`t be any friend of Eric`s anymore when I tell him about this."

Charles fell to his knees.

"Please, Sookie. Eric is like family. Don`t do this."

"Apart from Pam, it seems Eric has shitty relations and now even his pretend-family is an asshole. Get out!!" I was losing patience and fast.

Charles got up and went to his room. Fifteen minutes later I heard him go out the front door.

Half an hour later my phone rang in my purse. I got up slowly and stumbled out to retrieve it.

"Sookie," I whispered.

"What the hell is happening, Sookie?" Eric was agitated, but tried to stay calm. "I got a call from Charles asking me for my forgiveness, but he wouldn`t say for what. He just said I should go back to you as fast as I could."

I couldn`t help letting out a sob and I hated myself for it.

"Sookie, talk to me. Tell me what happened. Take a deep breath."

I looked up at the ceiling, then at my hands, trying to find a way to tell him. Then I figured there wasn`t anyway to break it to him nicely.

"Your mother planted Charles here to spy on you and me," I finally said.

Eric was quiet for some time.

"I`ll be home in a couple of hours, Sookie," he said. "Please stay." The last two words were a whisper.

* * *

**A/N:**

Do you still want to punch Eric?

I am leaving for my Christmas vacation very soon (I`m going to various parts of USA, YAY!!) but I hope to be able to post at least one more chapter before I leave. And I am currently writing the (hopefully) final chapter on Dead on a Football Field which I hope can be posted later this week.


	24. Chapter 24

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 24**

**A/N:**

Thank you for all your great reviews. It seems Eric is less in danger of being hit by you (being hit on is an entirely different matter :-P).

Before you read this chapter, I want to remind you that I am following the books, but I jump a bit back and forth. In every chapter there is at least one quote from the books, sometimes slightly altered (have you found them all?) and I also try to keep Eric and Sookie "in character". Sometimes I change them a little bit, though, because there are things a powerful vampire can say and do, which would be just plain silly for a human Eric to copy.

Thank you very much to **Rascalthemutant** at the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum for reading this and for having patience with me.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_Charles got up and went to his room. Fifteen minutes later I heard him go out the front door. _

_Half an hour later my phone rang in my purse. I got up slowly and stumbled out to retrieve it. _

"_Sookie," I whispered._

"_What the hell is happening, Sookie?" Eric was agitated, but tried to stay calm. "I got a call from Charles asking me for my forgiveness, but he wouldn`t say for what. He just said I should go back to you as fast as I could."_

_I couldn`t help letting out a sob and I hated myself for it._

"_Sookie, talk to me. Tell me what happened. Take a deep breath." _

_I looked up at the ceiling, then at my hands, trying to find a way to tell him. Then I figured there wasn`t any way to break it to him nicely._

"_Your mother planted Charles here to spy on you and me," I finally said. _

_Eric was quiet for some time._

"_I`ll be home in a couple of hours, Sookie," he said. "Please stay." The last two words were a whisper. _

* * *

Xxxxx

**Chapter 24**

I started cleaning, which was what I usually did when I had a lot on my mind, but then I just fell back in the couch and started reading one of my romance novels. I needed an escape from reality and romance novels did the job perfectly.

Of course the novel also made me miss the romance I had had in my life so very recently. Though I was having a blissful moment of being happy and content reading the book, I had one of those stray ideas you get at odd moments.

I thought, _How nice it would be if Eric were here with me on the couch. He'd_ _look so good lying with his head in my lap, my fingers through his hair, and he'd enjoy the moment_. Well, yeah, up until he started to worry whether I was another one of his mother`s schemes.

But I realized I'd thought of Eric because it was the kind of day you wanted to share with the person you cared about, the person whose company you enjoyed the most. And that would be Eric as he'd been while he was cursed by a bitchy witch – or was it a witchy bitch? The Eric who hadn't been hardened by his mother, the Eric who had no contempt for other people, the Eric who was not in charge of a company and responsible for the lives and incomes of quite a few of my colleagues. In other words, Eric as he would never be again.

Ding-dong, the witch was dead, or at least on her way to prison, and Eric was restored to his character as it was now. The restored Eric was wary of me, was fond of me (maybe), and didn't trust me (or his feelings) an inch.

And speaking of the sun, Eric unlocked the front door, hung up his coat and came into the living room, sporting a frown.

"Is Charles gone? I would have loved to have thrown him out myself," was the first thing he said.

"It`s taken care of. I told him to leave immediately."

Eric came over to sit next to me on the couch and he took my hand.

"I`m sorry you had to go through that, Sookie. Charles should never have been in this house with you."

I patted his hand reassuringly.

"Don`t worry, Eric. I`m a big girl."

"I know. I still wish you hadn`t been mixed up in my problems."

He got up and went to the kitchen.

"Have you eaten?" he shouted back to the living room and instead of shouting back, I walked to him.

"No, I haven`t," I said.

"Great. I bought a few things and I`ll make you an Eric-special."

He smiled at me and I smiled back. I knew I should have initiated a talk about his mood swings, but then I never was one for big conversations.

"You don`t have to, Eric," I said.

"But I want to."

He did cook a perfect meal and while we ate, we had fun. Not quite the same carefree banter we had earlier in the summer, but enough for me to breathe a little easier.

We went to bed and even if it was in different bedrooms, I actually smiled when I fell asleep.

Xxxx

I was alone in the house when I got up the next morning. I was disappointed when Eric wasn`t in the house.

I went to get the paper and realized the mail had come too. I usually didn`t get any mail. The few people I knew, were not really letter-writing people. Tara and my brother Jason would update on Twitter and Facebook and that would be where I would learn anything about what was going on with them.

I was pretty sure if one of them died they would somehow manage to send out a tweet saying `sookie am dead, come 2 funeral, no singing please :-P` or something.

But today there was a letter with my name on it. It was from UDI, the Norwegian Immigration, and when I saw the logo my heart started jumping. I knew I only had a temporary work permit and a letter could either mean that it was now permanent – or that it had been revoked.

I cursed because I hadn`t given my work permit a second thought since the meeting with Andy Bellefleur and that was ages ago. How could I have been so negligent?

I opened the letter and felt a wave of sadness and despair when I read what it said. UDI had apparently found that there weren`t any grounds for letting me have a work permit anymore and it was revoked immediately. Which meant I couldn`t even go to work on Monday.

I just slumped down on the floor in the hallway. So this was the end of my Norwegian adventures? I had been tricked to come over, started to build a life here, and now it was over?

I could have seen this as a sign. Maybe I was supposed to go home and leave the troubled Northman-Ravenscroft family behind me. I could start all over in my own country, maybe even go home to Louisiana. I could meet a nice American guy, buy a house with a white picket fence and have a couple of kids with him. No culture clash and no mean mother-in-laws to worry about. Well, no mean multi-millionaire mother-in-laws, at least.

But I didn`t want to. It hit me like a shovel. I didn`t want to leave.

I wanted to stay. I liked my job. I liked the country. I like Pam. And I liked …

There was no point. If UDI had decided I should go, I might as well pack my bags. My tourist visa would expire soon and with no work permit, I would not be able to extend it.

Just when my brain was going 100 miles an hour on a narrow country road, I heard the front door open and close. And then Eric was in the hallway, looking at me with fright in his eyes.

He bent down on his knees next to me and gently took my hand.

"What happened, Sookie?"

I tried to get up, but my legs weren`t functioning.

"I`m being shipped out of the country," I said with sadness in my voice. I held up the letter from UDI and Eric grabbed it and started reading.

Suddenly he hissed.

"_FAENS JÆVLA PIKKHUE_," he yelled and I winced. Did he just say `Damned, fucking cockhead`?

I was certainly learning new Norwegian words every day.

"Yeah, I know," I answered. What could I say?

"Fucking Andre. And my fucking mother." Eric was really pissed.

"Who`s Andre?" I asked, but then I saw the name of the department manager signing the UDI-letter. Andre Paul. I looked at Eric because that name meant absolutely nothing to me.

"He`s one of my mother`s many little helpers."

"What? Why?" I felt like a kindergarten kid at a university-lecture. I didn`t get anything.

"My mother desperately wants grandkids. She needs grandkids because of some family shit. And I suppose she feels you are standing in her way of getting them." Eric`s face was hard as rock and it almost scared me.

"What?" I was repeating myself. "And why is she so desperate now? It`s not like you have some kind of expiration date." I looked at him. "Is it?"

"My mother needs grandkids from both me and Pam to stay ahead in a power struggle in both the Northman and the Ravenscroft families. My mother is trying to keep her position in both families. Of course, Pam`s father is still alive which makes it easier to stay in control without Pam having procreated. My little swimmers, on the other hand, are very important to my mother." He sighed before he started talking again. "But things have escalated now that my cousin Victor, my father`s sister`s son, had a kid. Apparently that kid tips the balance and my mother wants something on her side of the scales. 10 pounds of baby would suit her just perfectly." Eric spat out. "As if I would ever be a suitable father." He said the last words to himself.

I gasped.

Eric got up and went to take of his coat and boots. He was deep in thought and his brows tried hard to meet in the middle over his nose.

Suddenly a wave of empathy and pity for him washed over me. How could he live with a mother who tried to manipulate such an important part of his life? Who tried to make him have kids when he clearly didn`t want any and didn`t have anyone to have them with. Who tried to push girls in and out of his life.

Eric turned around and gave me a long hard stare. I felt silly, sitting on the floor and started to get up.

Before I got anywhere, Eric was down on his knees with me again.

"Marry me, Sookie. That way you can stay in Norway."

I knew my mouth was hanging open, but I couldn't help it. `Catching flies,` my grandmother had called that expression, and I felt like I was catching plenty of them.

I couldn`t marry him because I wanted to stay in Norway and I certainly couldn`t marry him to spite his mother. Then why was a little voice inside me cheering?

I`d never been a girl who wanted romantic proposals followed up by huge diamond rings, but being asked to marry a guy, sitting on a hallway floor, because you are being thrown out of a country, was definitely not the way I had imagined the start of any married life.

"I can`t marry you just because I don`t want to leave Norway, Eric," I finally said. I kept his hand in mine.

"Would it help if I said I didn`t want you to leave?"

"It`s still a practical reason. I would prefer to marry for love." I whispered the last word.

"And how are you and I ever going to love each other if you leave?" Eric asked matter-of-factly.

"But how can we know that we ever will?"

"You want to stay. I want you to stay. You can stay if we marry. It doesn`t have to be more complicated. If you want, we can make it a small wedding with no guests. That way no one will know if you change your mind and want a divorce. And you only have to be married to me for three years to gain permanent residency. Surely I`m not that bad. " Now he had the smug smile I knew from before his memory loss.

I couldn`t help smiling back. It was contagious.

"But we still stay the same." I stated and when he looked at me quizzically, I elaborated with one word. "Friends."

Eric laughed. "Are you denying me my marital rights?"

"You better believe it, buster." I poked him in the chest.

Eric got up and pulled me up too.

"Let`s go celebrate our engagement."

"I haven`t said yes yet, Eric."

"Oh, you will."

"What if one of us falls in love with someone else?" I asked.

Eric looked at me.

"I`m asking you to marry me and already you are planning on falling in love with someone else?"

"Come on, Eric. With all your lady friends, it`s more likely to be you than me who wants out of this arranged marriage."

"Yes, because I fall in love every day. Do you know how many women I`ve asked to marry me?"

I didn`t answer.

"One. And I`m looking at her right now." And he looked at me. "Sure this won`t be some romantic wedding with a kid on the way, but we are friends and that might just make our marriage a stronger one. I am not planning on falling in love so I suggest that you and I get married for practical reasons and live the way we have lived these last couple of months. I like having you around and unless you have some secret lover stashed away, I suggest we make it permanent."

"Hmm, there`s always Quinn." I couldn`t help myself.

"Quinn?? The kid manning the phones at Viking Games? What is he … 19 or something?"

Then he saw my teasing smile and launched himself at me and started tickling. I screamed out and tried to get away, but he was stronger than me.

"I`ll give you Quinn." He laughed.

* * *

**A/N:**

Do you remember that I let you vote on Quinn entering the story a few chapters back? You were pretty unanimous that you didn`t want him as Sookie`s lover. Your wish is my command (when it fits the story, at least) so Quinn is just an extra. :-D

This is the last chapter in 2009. I`m off for a trip to New York, Puerto Rico and the islands we know as The Danish West Indies. Their official name is US Virgin Islands, but I suppose we Danes just can`t accept the fact that we sold the islands to the USA in 1917…

I wish you all a very merry Christmas (or whichever celebration you have) and a happy New Year!! Thank you for being great readers and reviewers in 2009. You have made me smile so many times :-D

_God jul og godt nyttår _(merry Christmas and a Happy New Year).


	25. Chapter 25

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 25**

**A/N:**

So I`m back from outer space (or New York and the Caribbean as it were). I had a great trip and I just want to say thank you for all the reviews, subscription notices and favorites that ticked into my phone each and every day. Some of you apparently went through all my old stories too and it made me smile.

Also thank you to **Rascalthemutant** at the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum for reading this through and correcting my mistakes. Thank you for being such a great friend too *hugs*.

Happy New Year!

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

_Eric looked at me._

"_I`m asking you to marry me and already you are planning on falling in love with someone else?"_

"_Come on, Eric. With all your lady friends, it`s more likely to be you than me who wants out of this arranged marriage."_

"_Yes, because I fall in love every day. Do you know how many women I`ve asked to marry me?"_

_I didn`t answer._

"_One. And I`m looking at her right now." And he looked at me. "Sure this won`t be some romantic wedding with a kid on the way, but we are friends and that might just make our marriage a stronger one. I am not planning on falling in love so I suggest that you and I get married for practical reasons and live the way we have lived these last couple of months. I like having you around and unless you have some secret lover stashed away, I suggest we make it permanent."_

"_Hmm, there`s always Quinn." I couldn`t help myself._

"_Quinn?? The kid manning the phones at Viking Games? What is he … 19 or something?" _

_Then he saw my teasing smile and launched himself at me and started tickling. I screamed out and tried to get away, but he was stronger than me._

"_I`ll give you Quinn." He laughed. _

* * *

**Chapter 25: **

I never gave Eric an answer to his proposal. It was not said in a way that demanded an immediate response. It wasn`t as if Eric had gone down on one knee and looked at me with loving eyes and asked me with nervousness in his voice. He had asked me to marry him to solve a practical problem.

It wasn`t that I didn`t want the work permit and it wasn`t that being married to Eric would be the worst thing that could happen to me. It wasn`t even that I had dreamt of proposals and weddings since I was a little girl, because I hadn`t. And being with Bill for two years had cured me of any romantic dreams I might have had. He had made it very clear early on that he was not the `marrying kind` and that he wasn`t looking for a family.

I could live with not being married and I could see the sense in marrying Eric for practical reasons, but it still felt wrong. Or maybe not wrong, but at least awkward.

So I did what I always do when I should have talked things through with people. I clammed up.

Marriage did occupy a part of my brain for some time. This was mainly due to my old Louisiana friends Portia and Halleigh who both tweeted that their boyfriends had proposed. And both in a more traditional manner than Eric.

I stopped checking my TweetDeck when three-fourths of the tweets were them, yapping about colors of bridesmaids` dresses or size of diamonds on wedding rings. Either I had too few friends tweeting me or those two girls were obsessed.

Luckily I had other things on my mind. Eric and I were both busy with the launch of the computer program and soon we had another thing to worry about. Well, I worried about it. Eric`s mother had invited us to a family gathering somewhere up in the mountains.

I looked forward to going to the mountains again even if it wasn`t to Pam`s cabin. The memory of what Eric and I had done at Pam`s cabin, made me sigh a little – and blush a lot. That trip had made me love the Norwegian mountains. What I didn`t love was the thought of spending time with, not only Eric`s mother, but more of his family.

I liked Pam and apart from her I had only met Eric`s mother, but I had a feeling that the rest of the Northmans were more like Sophie-Anne Northman-Ravenscroft than like Pam and Eric.

"Why do you want me to go too, Eric?" I had put on my big girl`s pants and asked him after a few days of wondering.

Eric opened his mouth, but Pam was faster. "You are family, Sookie." End of conversation. Never any explanations as to what made me part of the family – or if Eric agreed. And I didn`t ask. As much as I wanted more answers, I didn`t want to ruin anything. I didn`t really have much family anymore and I would love to have Pam and Eric as my next of kin. In any capacity. So I didn`t rock the boat.

The last week before the launch of the game, I worked 24-hour days. Or so it felt. I was worn out when I came home from work, and so was Eric. We shared easy fun and he cooked me some great meals, but we never talked much. We were just too exhausted.

The hard work paid off, though. The game was sold out in stores all around the world and our website had gazillions of visitors buying it online. Of course the real test was on social communities all over the world. Would bloggers and super-gamers like the game?

The answer came quickly and it was positive. Actually `positive` was too weak a word. Eric and the programmers had apparently taken a couple of giant leaps that impressed even the coolest of the cool.

Everyone wanted a piece of Eric and he went from interview to interview. I organized Skypes and long distance phone calls and arranged for him to be in television studios in Los Angeles and Singapore, while still in Oslo. Cameras and technology from the state television company NRK were usually not rented out for commercial use, but it so happened that NRK had a few computer game geeks who saw Eric as the new messiah and they jumped at the chance to help him.

Being interviewed in all time zones of the world, turned our sleeping pattern from bad to non-existant so when the first buzz was over, I was dead. Happy, but dead. And very proud. I had not made the game, but I had done a pretty great job at making it a household name.

Eric seemed to think the same thing because he hugged me on a regular basis and no one could accuse him of not thanking me.

Pam seemed to agree and if Eric and I were skipping around the subject of marriage, she certainly wasn`t.

"So when are you going to make sure your PR-manager stays in the country and have her wear your ring, oh brother of mine?" she asked one late night over dinner. I immediately blushed and started shoveling the food from my plate into my mouth in an attempt to be done fast so I could leave the table and the room. Gran would have rotated in her grave.

Eric looked less uncomfortable than me, but then he had had years of practice with Pam`s banter.

"You are putting pressure on the wrong person, Pam. The question has been popped, but never answered."

Pam looked at me.

"Why is it so easy for you to resist my brother?" she asked innocently and I had to work hard at not getting the food down my windpipe. I chewed slowly and thanked my upbringing for making it impossible for me to talk with my mouth full of Eric`s delicious dinner. Of course Gran had also taught me not to stuff my head. `Never bite off more than you can chew` and all that.

I had two sets of eyes on me when I swallowed. I drank a little sip to gain a few more seconds to come up with an answer, but Eric beat me to it.

"She will walk down the aisle with me, won`t you, Sookie?"

If they had looked at me intensely before, they stared now. I couldn`t answer. What could I say?

"Mum is going to love this," Pam finally stated.

Eric and I both looked at her.

"Mother doesn`t have to know." Eric`s voice had an edge to it.

"Afraid of what she might say?" Pam teased.

"Pam!" It came out as a guttural sound deep from Eric`s throat. I figured I would come to his rescue.

"If Eric and I are getting married, it won`t change anything so why tell anybody?"

Pam looked at me with a Cheshire cat smile while Eric`s face was impossible to read.

"No, why indeed?" Pam laughed. "Why indeed?"

Xxx

The day came for us to leave for the mountains. I considered faking illness just to avoid going, but when I saw Eric`s tense shoulders the morning we were leaving, I felt sorry for him. I wanted to give him a hug and comb my fingers through his hair, but I didn`t have the nerve.

So I pulled on my ski jacket, put on my boots and went out the door. I felt like a pig going to the slaughterhouse and I figured I would have to find my inner strength before I met the force of nature that had given birth to my self-appointed fiancée.

The family gathering was to take place at a hotel and I had imagined some white monstrosity built in the 1950s. I had seen plenty of them in the area where Pam had her cabin.

When Eric pulled up in front of the hotel I saw that this was no monstrosity and definitely not built in the 1950s. This was a palace and it was older than most houses in Bon Temps. It was beautiful, really beautiful, and I couldn`t help smiling.

Eric saw my smile and gave my hand a little squeeze.

"My mother likes to impress people," he said and gave me a small kiss on the cheek. "Don`t worry. She won`t bite you."

"I`m not so sure about that." And I wasn`t. So I swallowed back a little fear when I saw Sophie-Anne Northman-Ravenscroft coming down the stairs with her arms open.

"Paaaam, Eeeeeric," she yelled in a way no actor could have done better. She was acting the part of the perfect mother. After having hugged her children, she looked at me. "And Susan," she smiled and took my hand to shake it.

"Sookie," Eric and I said simultaneously.

"Sookie. Yes, how silly of me."

She tried to take both her children by the arms, but Eric broke free and held my hand instead. We all walked up to the reception of the hotel. Eric`s mother went over to the young receptionist and smiled her signature smile.

"I need the keys for my children`s rooms." She looked at me. "And for their friend. I believe my children have rooms here in the main building and Miss Stackhouse is in one of the wings."

"Sookie is staying in my room," Eric said with a voice loud enough to startle me. I had had no plans on staying in Eric`s room, but I wasn`t about to hand over any aces to his mother, so I said nothing.

Sophie-Anne Northman-Ravenscroft was not pleased, but after trying to freeze me over with her stare, she smiled again and looked back at the receptionist.

"Miss Stackhouse is apparently staying in my son`s room."

We got our keys and Eric`s mother insisted on walking us to our rooms. When we came to the room Eric and I were supposed to share, Eric`s mother looked at me. The smile was gone.

"Sookie, would you be a darling and check if there are enough towels in the bathroom? They had forgotten towels in our room."

It wasn`t until I came back from the bathroom to report a satisfying number of towels, I realized that she had just wanted me out of the room. When I opened the door, a heated discussion met me.

"But you don`t even share rooms in your apartment, Eric. Be reasonable. Why force the young girl to sleep with you if she never has before." Sophie-Anne`s voice was pleading, but with an edge of steel.

"Who I sleep with is none of your damned business, mother, and you know it." Eric was angry.

"Oh, but it is. Who you sleep with, or rather who you procreate with, is very much my business. Why keep this girl," I couldn`t see Eric`s mother since I was still standing on the threshold to the bedroom, but I imagined that she pointed at me, "so close to you. You won`t get married with her around."

"That`s where you are wrong."

There was a silence and I figured this was my chance to go out and pretend I had heard nothing. Eric pulled me into his body with his strong arms. He might as well have thrown me in his mother`s face and I didn`t like it much. So the minute she was out of the room, I took a step away.

"What the hell was that?"

"I`m sorry. My mother is being her usual unreasonable self."

"I didn`t mean your mother. What the hell were you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don`t give me that innocent look. You know what I mean. You were two seconds from telling your mother I was marrying you and now you pretend we are old lovers."

"We are old lovers." Eric tried his charming smile.

"Yeah, emphasis on `old`. You have given me no indications you wanted me back in your bed, not that I necessarily would have said yes, and now you announce to the world that we are sleeping with each other. What is that?"

"You don`t want to sleep with me again?" Eric was apparently not used to rejection.

"What is this, Eric? I can`t be friends one day and lovers the next."

"I proposed to you…"

"Yes, you proposed to me. It was very sweet of you, but you were very clear that you proposed as my friend and possibly my employer. It was for me to stay in Norway. You said so yourself."

Eric opened his mouth, but before he managed to say anything, the door flew open and Pam waltzed in.

"Do I detect a lover`s quarrel so soon," she smiled. "Come on you two. Get dressed. We are going curling."

The smile was back on Eric`s lips and his seven-year-old self looked out through his eyes. I almost expected him to jump up and down. I had a vague idea of what curling was, but I was never one to follow Winter Olympics. I didn`t know the rules in half of the sports. Make that nine-tenths of them. Curling was definitely among the nine.

We walked down a few corridors and when we opened a huge door, we were met with the artificial coldness of indoor ice.

The curling rink was like a normal skating rink, but divided in what looked like huge shuffleboards. On each there were eight huge and smooth rocks with a handle on them, four in yellow, four in red.

Eric handed me a pair of shoes, one of them slick under and one with grip.

"It`s so that you can glide on one foot and stand still on the other," Eric explained. I had no idea where I was supposed to glide or stand.

Eric`s mother was holding a broom and talking to what looked like a family. We joined them.

"Are we playing family against family?" Pam asked.

"Apparently so," Eric said with a clear distaste in his mouth. "Sookie, this is my uncle Peter Threadgill. He is married to my father`s sister. These are his two children, my cousins, Jade and Flower and this is…" Eric pointed at a large-chested, peroxide blonde.

"She is my secretary," Peter Threadgill said. Apparently secretaries didn`t have names.

"This is my future fiancée, I hope, Sookie Stackhouse." I blushed from my neck to my forehead. I was going to get Eric for that introduction, but at least I wasn`t his `secretary`.

"Shall we begin the games, Peter?" Sophie-Anne said with an angelic smile.

"Of course," he answered.

"I`ll start for our team," Pam said. "That`ll give Eric a chance to explain the game to Sookie."

Pam took one of the rocks, went down in a crooked position and sent the rock gliding on the ice towards a circle in the other end. What really caught my attention was Sophie-Anne who used her broom as if there were spiders all over the ice. She brushed frantically and the rock ended up in the front of the circle.

"Nice, sis," Eric yelled. Then he looked at me. "The whole point of the game is to get as many of our rocks into the house, which is the circle, and to knock out as many of the other team`s from it. The one sending the curling stone away will try to do it at the right speed and with a few curves and the people with the brooms, that would normally be the three others on the team, will brush the stone to the most perfect position. It`s easy as pie and dead fun," Eric declared.

Jade took her stone and sent it out to knock Pam`s stone out of the circle. Her own stone went in the opposite direction.

"What a lousy shot," Eric said in a low voice. "Her rock should have stayed in the house."

Then he handed me a broom. "Now we have to help my mother. Just copy what I do."

Sophie-Anne sent her rock, or stone, away and Eric and Pam started to broom frantically. I did the same without having any idea of what I was doing or why.

"Great, Sookie. You are a born curler," Pam patted my back. I felt like a 3-year-old being praised for my sorry attempts at drawing a person.

Now it was Flower`s turn. She sent her rock flying and it knocked Sophie-Anne`s out to the side of the circle and placed itself in the middle.

"Now it`s your turn, Sookie. Just send an easy stone out there and knock Flower`s stone out of the house."

"Sure, Eric. As soon as you start speaking Swahili fluently. I`ve never done this before."

"I know, but it`s really easy. Just send it away and you`ll be fine." Eric smiled his most encouraging smiles.

I tried to copy the way the others had sent their stones away and it really did look doable. What I hadn`t taken into account was having one slippery and one steady foot. Before I knew it, I fell flat on my back and my stone stopped halfway toward the circle in spite of Pam and Eric`s frantic brushing.

Eric sailed over to me on his slippery shoe and landed over me. I was smushed under his big body.

"I`ve got you," he said.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Protecting you from nasty curling stones." He was smiling with the joy of the game, and his blue eyes were glittering like sapphires. Eric loved curling.

"I don`t see any stones coming after me," I said. "It seems the team really needs you now."

Carried away on a wave of excitement, Eric kissed me long and hard and then he scooped up the last stone for our team.

"It seems it`s our turn, Eric," Peter Threadgill said. He looked like someone had just given him bad news. And it was certainly not my curling that had given him the sour look. Why did he object to Eric`s behavior towards me?

"Of course, Peter. I wouldn`t dream of stepping in your way." Eric gave me a hand so I could get up without too much embarrassment and we walked back to the others.

Peter`s secretary was Norwegian, but that didn`t mean she could curl. She sent her stone away and the only thing that saved her from sharing my embarrassment, was the fact that she remained on her feet. Her stone touched mine and sent it beautifully into the circle while taking it`s place in the middle of the sheet.

Peter Threadgill groaned.

"And now it`s my turn," Eric jumped up. "Go and brush with Pam, Sookie," he yelled. I took the broom and followed Pam, sliding on one shoe and pushing with the other.

We bent down and Eric scooped up his stone.

"Curling for a wife," Eric declared happily and flung the stone in my direction. With a war cry like an ancient Viking, Eric jumped up and down while Pam and I brushed for all we were worth.

"Love seeing you with your butt up, sweeping for my brother," Pam snickered.

Eric`s stone made an elegant screw and placed itself behind the stone from the opposing team and in front of mine.

"Great shot, brother," Pam yelled. "You are protecting your sweetheart, but can`t be knocked out because of the other stone." Pam looked at her uncle. "No way, you can win now."

Apparently Peter Threadgill realized the same thing because instead of sending off the last stone, he rushed towards the doors.

"Don`t be such a sore loser, Peter," Sophie-Anne yelled at him, pretending to be outraged. But she was enjoying every minute of it.

Peter`s two children and his secretary looked a little forlorn and soon they followed in his footsteps.

"I always love beating those…. those pussies," Pam smiled.

"Pam, language." Sophie-Anne looked at her daughter.

"But they are pussies." Pam declared.

Pam and her mother looked at each other. Then Sophie-Anne smiled. "Yeah. They are pussies. And we beat them." She looked at Eric. "Are you really planning on marrying her?" She pointed at me.

"If she will have me," Eric said as if we had never discussed keeping it a secret.

"Then you will be bringing me down." Sophie-Anne looked very serious.

"Don`t be so melodramatic, mother."

"Oh, I think you know how much I need to have a grandchild. Peter is threatening to take away his support and since your father and his two sisters owned one third each, he only needs to change his favors from me to…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. You`ve been telling me for years. But as long as Peter has `secretaries`," Eric made quotation marks with his fingers, "you will have his support. He wouldn`t want my aunt to get the dirty pictures you obviously have of him and various blondes."

"Yes, but I don`t have any heirs. Your two aunts both have grandchildren and that gives them an edge. You know your grandfather`s will…"

"I know the will, but I am not going to have kids just to satisfy your lust for money and power." Eric was at the boiling point.

"And with her," Sophie Anne pointed at me again. I was beginning to dislike her index finger in my direction, "you will never have any."

"What?" Eric and I said simultaneously. I almost said `jinx` just to loosen up the situation, but stopped myself.

"My private investigators have been asking Bill Compton, her old boyfriend…"

"I know who Bill Compton is," Eric hissed.

"Of course you do, son. Well, Bill was more than happy to talk about his life with Sookie and he said the most interesting things. Apparently Sookie never wants to have kids and this was one of the reasons Bill broke up with her. He now has a new girlfriend, Selah, I believe her name was, and they are planning on starting a family as soon as possible. Bill was very clear on Sookie`s dislike of children. He suggested I stopped you from marrying her…"

Sophie-Anne kept talking, but I never heard anything else because I ran out of there. I could hear Eric`s footsteps and he was yelling for me to stop, but he didn`t reach me until we were in the hotel room.

I looked at him. I wanted to cry, but I was just too mad.

"Is your mother stopping at nothing?" I yelled.

* * *

**A/N: **

That Sophie-Anne, huh?

I hope you liked this chapter and that the long break didn`t ruin it all for you *bites nails*.

If you want to have a great insight to Eric`s character and his feelings towards Sookie, I want to recommend Peppermintyrose`s great story "Dossier" **www . fanfiction . net/s/5633968/1/Dossier** . She has achieved something I thought was impossible – for me to like book 9. Yay!


	26. Chapter 26

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 26**

**A/N:**

Wow, over 800 reviews. Thank you so much. I`m terrible at answering them. I`m up half the night as it is, to write this story and I`m really sorry I can`t answer you all. I really love each and every one!

And thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** for reading this and correcting the same mistakes over and over again. It seems I`ll never learn the in/on couch-thing *blushes*.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

"_I know who Bill Compton is," Eric hissed._

"_Of course you do, son. Well, Bill was more than happy to talk about his life with Sookie and he said the most interesting things. Apparently Sookie never wants to have kids and this was one of the reasons Bill broke up with her. He now has a new girlfriend, Selah, I believe her name was, and they are planning on starting a family as soon as possible. Bill was very clear on Sookie`s dislike of children. He suggested I stopped you from marrying her…" _

_Sophie-Anne kept talking, but I never heard anything else because I ran out of there. I could hear Eric`s footsteps and he was yelling for me to stop, but he didn`t reach me until we were in the hotel room. _

_I looked at him. I wanted to cry, but I was just too mad. _

"_Is your mother stopping at nothing?" I yelled._

* * *

**Chapter 26:**

I ran out of the room again. When I heard Eric coming after me, I turned around and yelled. "Leave me the fuck alone, Eric."

Eric stopped in his tracks and I ran on with tears burning behind my eyelids.

Why had Bill said that I never wanted kids? The few times we had even discussed starting a family, Bill had been the reluctant one, claiming he didn`t want his life disturbed by screaming kids and dirty diapers.

I couldn`t really blame Bill for having found a new girlfriend, but it still hurt. He had betrayed me, raped me and now he showed me how little I meant to him.

I was not one to crumble, but I didn`t know how to fight this. I wanted to get away, but since I couldn`t walk through the snow all alone, I settled for a comfortable chair in the hotel library. I hugged my knees and worked hard at keeping my tears inside.

I must have dozed off because voices woke me up.

"Do not threaten me, Peter. You know what will happen if you change your support. I will come down on you and hard." It was Sophie-Anne`s voice.

The back of the chair was turned towards the voices and it was high enough to hide me completely.

"Eric doesn`t have an heir. That`s all I`m saying." Peter Threadgill answered.

"He will have. You saw him and Sookie. I wouldn`t be surprised if the little bump on her stomach wasn`t the future president of Northman Enterprises."

My hand flung up to cover my mouth. The other hand stroked my belly. I had a bump, but it was a perfectly normal female one. How could Sophie-Anne insinuate that I was pregnant just hours after she had told me she "knew" I didn`t want children?

"How can I know she isn`t just another one in the string of women in Eric`s life?" Peter Threadgill spat out.

"You know she isn`t. You wouldn`t have walked out of curling if it wasn`t because you just lost a reason for stabbing me in the back. You were pissed because Eric has finally grown up and found a significant other. Your excuse for not signing the contract disappeared. So I suggest that you just suck it up and put your name on the dotted line and we`ll continue our beautiful friendship the next five years."

"Five years is a long time, Sophie-Anne." Peter`s voice showed defeat.

"Just sign, Peter. If Eric hasn`t given me grandchildren when the contract runs out, you are more than welcome to screw me over. Metaphorically speaking, of course."

"Of course, Sophie-Anne. I prefer my lovers young, you know, so metaphorically would be the only way I would screw you. But I will screw you six times over if Eric isn`t singing lullabies to a little baby by the time this contract runs out."

"I know how you prefer your lovers. And I`ll make sure my dear sister-in-law also knows it if you breach the contract. Are we clear?"

"We are clear." I almost expected Peter Threadgill to finish his sentence with `bitch`, but he didn`t. He walked out of the room and slammed the door.

A minute later I heard a sigh and the door opening and closing again. After some time, the door opened again and I heard a worried voice.

"Sookie?" It was Eric.

I got up and walked over to him. "Can we leave, please?" I asked.

"I was just going to suggest it." He took my hand and pulled me into an embrace. "I`m so sorry, Sookie. I`m so sorry."

Xxxx

We were back at the apartment and Eric kept hugging me and holding my hand. And he kept apologizing. I had told him everything his mother had said to Peter Threadgill.

"I`m so sorry you have deal with my dysfunctional family, Sookie." He seemed devastated.

I let my hand glide down his cheek and down to his neck.

"I`m sorry too, Eric, but you can`t help who you are related to."

"No, but I can`t say it hasn`t affected me. I have a lot of baggage, you know." He looked serious.

"You have a full set of designer luggage from the beauty bag to the trunk, that`s for sure. But then we all have a couple of bags to carry," I kissed his cheek and looked him in the eyes.

He started bending down and I automatically stretched upwards, pouting my lips. Just before his mouth met mine, we heard a key in the door and Pam walked in.

"Hellooo, anybody home?" She came into the living room where we were. "Ups, sorry. Didn`t mean to interrupt anything," she grinned.

I reluctantly stepped away from Eric and went to sit on the couch with Pam.

"You two are getting comfortable, I see. Does this mean I will be calling you sister in law soon? Our mother would be so thrilled." Pam winked.

"Shut up, Pam," Eric growled.

"Actually, right now your mother is the only thing holding me back, Pam. I can`t really see any other reasons for not taking Eric up on his great offer than Sophie-Anne pestering me to have Eric`s kids."

Eric jumped up. "You will? You`ll marry me? That`s just great, Sookie."

"I think you missed the second part of what I said, Eric." I tried to calm him down.

"Oh, nonsense. We`ll just tell her to shut up. Neither of us are ready to have kids and that`s the end of that story." Eric was his old confident self.

I felt I had to correct the impression Sophie Anne had left. "It`s not that I don`t want children ever, Eric." This was embarrassing. "It`s just not what this marriage is about, right? We are marrying as friends?"

"Of course, Sookie. Now, how soon can we get married? I think there is a week waiting period, so what do you say to getting married next Saturday?"

I gaped. Of course we should get married soon if I didn`t want a police escort to the airport, but a week? For a lot of girls, a year of planning would be too little and I was getting a week. But then, I didn`t have to color coordinate the flowers and the tablecloth, so one week seemed just be perfect.

"Next Saturday is fine," I nodded after having given it a few minute`s thought. The next thing I knew was Eric kissing me - deeply. I pushed him away and must have looked pretty confused.

"Sorry, Sookie," Eric said without regretting the kiss one ounce.

"If this is how you kiss your friends, Sookie, I`ll have to remind you that I`m your friend too." Pam pouched her lips and made exaggerated kissing-sounds.

I couldn`t help laughing. Which was probably good because Eric kissing me had thrown me off balance. I figured it was part of Eric`s roller-coaster-routine and I was suddenly not so sure this wedding was such a great idea.

Xxxx

It was a busy week at work and I never got to ponder much over my imminent wedding. Pam had a sly smile every time I saw her and Eric was all hugs and kisses.

Thursday morning before my wedding, Pam came to my office.

"Can I see your wedding dress, Sookie?" she asked.

She took me completely by surprise. "I don`t have a wedding dress. I`ll just wear something from my closet. This isn`t exactly the white wedding-dress kind of wedding."

"Actually most women don`t wear white wedding dresses here in Norway. They were their national dresses."

"Really? Well, I don`t have a national dress," I answered, wondering what a Louisiana national dress would look like. Beads and flip-flops?

"I know. This is why I`m taking you out shopping."

"For a national dress?" My tone flew up a little.

"No, silly. A national dress takes a year to make. I want you to wear a nice dress for your wedding. It doesn`t have to be white, but it should be something for the occasion. And a little more fashionable than whatever you have in your closet – no offense. Oh, come to think of it – offense. You have absolutely no taste in clothes."

"Thank you," I applied as much sarcasm to my voice as I could.

"You are welcome," Pam deadpanned. "Now, will you go out with me and get a damned dress?"

"But, Pam, this isn`t even a real wedding," I tried.

"Yeah, yeah. So you both keep telling me." Pam took my hand and dragged me out of my office. "Grab your coat now. I don`t want to see a runny nose on Saturday."

"Yes, mum." I rolled my eyes.

Xxx

Pam dragged me from shop to shop in the Bogstadveien, the fashion street of Oslo. When she didn`t find anything there, she took me to Grünerløkka where most of Oslo`s vintage-stores were.

I`d never been much for pre-owned clothes - it tasted too much of the hand-me-downs I had as a child - but Pam assured me it was the THE thing to buy.

After yet another hour of trial and failure, a beautiful icy blue dress fell in my hands.

"Try this one. I think it accommodates your breasts," Pam said. My generous bosom had been the sole reason for most of my dress-rejections. Apparently only women with A- or B-cups needed to dress up, because those were the only ones the dresses were made for.

The minute I put the dress on, I knew it was the one. It brought out my eyes and amplified and hid just what I wanted people to see or not take notice of.

Pam was in seventh heaven. "You will be a fine wife for my dear brother. I can`t wait to see the look on his face when he sees you. I`m just sorry you are marrying in the courthouse and not in a huge church. Ah well, you can do the church-wedding when you renew your vows and make it a real marriage."

I sighed and rolled my eyes, but kept my mouth shut. Sometimes you know when a battle is lost and making Pam believe I was only marrying her brother to get a work permit was impossible.

Xxxx

I was carrying not only the huge bag with the dress, but also new shoes, a wrap and even a new coat. Pam had claimed that I couldn`t wear that old coat of mine to my wedding so she made sure I got a cranberry red one that looked great with the dress when Pam put on a huge steel blue silk flower on it. Finally she had also talked me into getting new and less practical boots, claiming I would have to wear boots to the courthouse and then change to shoes there because of the snow. "And you don`t want to wear a wedding dress with those," she had said while pointing at my very warm and sensible winter boots.

Pam had had urgent business to take care of and had left me to carry all the bags home alone. After having balanced them out of the taxi, it was a circus act to unlock the door.

This was why I almost fell into Eric`s house and dropped the bags on the floor with a loud pang. I took off my boots and coat and stopped to listen. A sound from the living room caught my attention. It sounded almost like paper being shuffled.

I looked at my watch and was surprised. Eric usually never got home at this hour. Come to think of it, neither did I.

I opened the door, smiling to my future husband and was shocked to see a mountain of a man sitting on the couch. The living room looked almost like before, but little details revealed that he had gone through Eric`s things. Thoroughly. I drew a fast breath of shock and went into action-mode.

My hand flew down to my purse to get my phone, but before I got that far, the man was next to me, grabbing my hand.

"Don`t," he said in a warning tone. "My name is Sigebert and I work for Sophie Anne."

* * *

**A/N:**

What? Did I really leave you with a cliffie? Oh, naughty Thyra10 *giggles*

I hope you liked this chapter. Have a nice weekend!

**And now for the commercials: **

I have written an entry for the **Naughty and Nice contest** called **Dust Bunnies and Christmas Presents**. If you want to read about Sookie being stuck in Scandinavia for Christmas and meeting Eric – well, then that`s the story for you. It`s complete with seven kinds of Christmas cookies and a whole lot of what we all want from Eric :-D. You`ll find the story on my profile.

I also want to recommend another read: My Australian friend **Peppermintyrose** wrote a one-shot about Eric`s view on sex, rape and relationships (my enterpretation). She has read the books with a magnifying glass and has picked up all kinds of details the ordinary mortals among us (like me) have missed. It`s called **The Marks of Resistance** and this is where you find it: www . fanfiction . net/s/5667586/1/The_Marks_of_Resistance

My Californian friend **Suki59**, the author of so many wonderful stories, has decided to sell herself to the highest bidder – for a good cause (the **Support Stacie Auction**). I really shouldn`t tell you this because I want to bid on her myself, but this is where you register: www . supportstacie . com/phpBB3/ucp . php?mode=register&sid=


	27. Chapter 27

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 27**

**A/N: **

Thank you so much for all your great reviews. I really hope you like this chapter too.

And thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** at the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum for correcting this chapter and for telling me she got warm fuzzies over it. I love warm fuzzies!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_This was why I almost fell into Eric`s house and dropped the bags on the floor with a loud pang. I took off my boots and coat and stopped to listen. A sound from the living room caught my attention. It sounded almost like paper being shuffled. _

_I looked at my watch and was surprised. Eric usually never got home at this hour. Come to think of it, neither did I. _

_I opened the door, smiling to my future husband and was shocked to see a mountain of a man sitting on the couch. The living room looked almost like before, but little details revealed that he had gone through Eric`s things. Thoroughly. I drew a fast breath of shock and went into action-mode._

_My hand flew down to my purse to get my phone, but before I got that far, the man was next to me, grabbing my hand. _

"_Don`t," he said in a warning tone. "My name is Sigebert and I work for Sophie Anne." _

* * *

**Chapter 27:**

I swallowed. He looked menacing and I was pretty sure he could snap my neck with his hands.

"And that gives you the right to break into Eric`s house?" A cornered dog will bite and I felt very cornered, being all alone with a man huge as a tree trunk.

"I will do anything for Sophie Anne," he answered with determination. "I just wish her own children would do the same."

A smile started forming on his lips. It was as if the smile-muscles were out of practice and he was really making the effort. Maybe he had watched too many American police shows with a `good cop/ bad cop` routine and he tried to act both roles. I`m sure if he had had a twin brother with him, one would have been smiles and comfort and the other one would break my fingers if I coughed wrong.

"What are you doing here?" I wanted to know.

"I wanted to know everything about you and Eric. Now that you are here, you can tell me yourself." His smile was still on his lips, but I could hear an `or else` hanging in the air.

"I just don`t understand why Sophie Anne can`t leave Eric alone."

Sigebert sighed as if I was a very slow kid and he was teaching me things I should have picked up in kindergarten.

"Sophie Anne is a very responsible person. She is trying to teach her children to take responsibility too."

"Just because we don`t do things her way, doesn`t mean we aren`t responsible," an angry voice from the door yelled out. Pam. "What the fuck are you doing here, Sigebert? Did my mother run out of backsides to kiss?"

"Miss Ravenscroft." Sigebert made a small bow to Pam. "I am here on your mother`s orders."

"Of course you are, Sigebert. But you are still here illegally. Do you want me to call the police?" Pam kept her cool, but she was close to spewing flames.

"You are free to do as you please, Miss Ravenscroft, but I do hope you would consider your mother`s reputation." He was quiet for a moment or two as if he had to overcome himself before he spoke again. "I also wish you and your brother would consider the consequences of your lifestyle."

I almost started looking for a fire extinguisher for Pam`s mouth, when she spat out, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Sigebert looked her straight in the eyes. "You know the consequences if Eric doesn`t step up as his mother`s successor in Northman Enterprises. And to do that, he needs to marry and have children. And you will face similar demands when your father passes away, Miss Ravenscroft. People born into your position in life have responsibilities to so many people and you can`t just ignore it."

"What do you mean `to so many people`?" I asked Sigebert. I felt I was missing an important part of the puzzle.

Sigebert practiced his smile on me again. This time it seemed more friendly, but with a little dash of sadness. "A lot of people depend on the profitability of Northman Enterprises. Over 100,000 people earn their living directly or indirectly from the company."

I gasped. "A 100,000 people?"

"And most of them live and work in small communities with Northman Enterprises as the sole employer."

Pam had softened slightly, then her eyes got hard again. "I am well aware of this, Sigebert. I can still not see how this can justify my mother forcing Eric to get a family. Getting married and having children is highly personal and not something you should do because a stupid will demands it."

I was apparently lacking a chapter of the book here. "I understand that this has something to do with a will from Eric`s grandfather, but what would happen if Eric never had children?" I asked.

Pam looked at me, but it was Sigebert who answered.

"Then those 100,000 people would all certainly be without jobs."

"You don`t know that, Sigebert," Pam said.

"If `you know who` gets hold of the company, he will not care about the people working for it. This is a given fact." Sigebert looked very serious.

I looked at Pam and she answered my unspoken question. "My mother does not allow us to use the name of Eric`s uncle."

"Peter Threadgill?" I asked and drew my breath as to swallow the words again. I didn`t want Sigebert to be angry with me for saying a name I shouldn`t have said. Luckily Pam shook her head.

"No, the other uncle. Eric`s father had two sisters. One of them married Peter Threadgill and the other one stumbled over some Spanish manmeat when she visited the `playa`."

"The `playa`?" I asked.

"Oh, of course. You don`t know the Scandinavian tradition of going to the south of Europe like the Vikings and screw everyone willing. Only this tradition is upheld mainly by the women, or at least the straight ones among us. Scandinavian women are not used to men telling them they are beautiful, because that`s just not something men do around here. In the summer vacations they can fill up their self esteem-tanks with all the sweet nothings South European men are willing to throw after them. They believe the crap and are really easy lay… sorry, easy prey for the Don Juans and Casanovas. Eric`s aunt was the unlucky one. Not only did she get pregnant, but the señor who had impregnated her decided to do the honorable thing." Pam spat out the last two words as if they were foul.

"I`m sure her fortunes helped him form his decision," Sigebert muttered.

"Definitely. And he has been trying to weasel himself into the company ever since. It has not been a pretty sight."

"Sophie Anne has done her best to keep him away from the important board rooms." Sigebert`s voice was full of pride which seemed like a contradiction to the rough man. "But she needs Eric`s loyalty." He looked at Pam.

"The price is too high, Sigebert."

"How can the price be too high? Remember what happened in my home village when …" His voice trailed off.

"I know," Pam said with a sad look on her face.

"What happened?" I almost whispered.

"He had managed to snatch a subsidiary company out of Sophie Anne`s hands and ran it to the ground, just to get out the values it had. Everyone in my home village depended on that company and when it was shut down, people had to move. It broke my brother`s spirit and he ended up committing suicide. This was why I came to work for Sophie Anne."

"I`m sorry, Sigebert." I felt truly sorry for him and I could suddenly see why Sophie Anne would put so much pressure on Eric. I felt bad about us getting married since I knew this wasn`t a marriage that would end in the children Sophie Anne apparently needed.

"Thank you. But if you don`t mind me saying so, sorry doesn`t mean very much. Only action counts. The way I see it, you are standing in the way of Eric having kids. And you will be Sophie Anne`s downfall."

"Excuse me?" My voice was high-pitched. I mentally deleted my sympathy for Sigebert.

"I`m just telling you the truth. Give up Eric now and go home."

Pam stood up. "I think you just unwelcomed yourself, Sigebert. Sookie and Eric are getting married on Saturday and there is nothing you can do about it."

Sigebert stared at me. "Then I hope you understand that you will have blood on your hands if you choose not to have children."

I gasped.

"Piss off, Sigebert. And never come back," Pam yelled.

Sigebert was out the door and I sat down like a deflated balloon. Pam sat down next to me.

"Don`t let this incident cloud your mind, Sookie," she said. "Sigebert is extremely loyal to my mother and only sees the world through her eyes. He doesn`t understand how Eric and I have to live our own lives. We are used to the guilt-trips he is trying pull, but it must have been a shock for you."

"Yes, it was. I mean, how can I marry Eric now, knowing that my selfish need for a work permit may end up in people losing their jobs and homes?"

"You just can`t think like that, Sookie." Pam stroked my back awkwardly.

"How can I not?"

Pam looked at me for a couple of minutes. Then she stood up and walked out of the living room. "I`m going to call Eric," she said and disappeared.

Xxx

I could hear the front door open and close and a low mutter of voices in the hall. Pam was apparently explaining the whole situation to Eric.

After a few minutes, Eric came into the living room and walked towards me in long strides. He surprised me by getting down on his knees between my legs. He looked at me.

"I realized that I have failed you, Sookie, and I want to make up for it," were his first words. I figured he wanted to say he was sorry about not giving me all the details in his and his mother`s affairs so I straightened up and waited for a long speech.

"I never really proposed to you," he said while unwrapping a small box I hadn`t noticed.

I gasped and panicked.

"You don`t have to propose, Eric. We are getting married in two days and this is not a conventional wedding." I was starting to hyperventilate.

Eric took my hand. "I know that, Sookie, but even if we marry for the wrong reasons, we can still do it right." He pulled out a very beautiful ring. It was a gold ring with a ruby in the middle and small diamonds around it. "This was my grandmother`s ring and I`m sure she would agree with me that no sweeter person could wear it." Eric looked me in the eyes. "Will you marry me, Sookie?"

I went from hyperventilating to holding my breath. Then I decided I couldn`t hold it forever and exhaled. "Yes, I will marry you, Eric," I smiled.

We looked at each other, not really knowing what to do. I hadn`t noticed Pam entering the living room again before she laughed. "I think it is customary to kiss in situations like this."

Eric straightened up and moved slowly in my direction, as if he was asking for my permission. I moved towards him and we met in a kiss. It wasn`t a passionate kiss or a kiss that would have us rip off our clothes, but it was a definite reminder of the kisses we had had.

Eric had had a lot of women and even if that wasn`t a part of him I was very fond of, it had made him a great kisser.

I sighed and pulled back. Both Eric and I did a lot of coughing and we couldn`t really look each other in the eyes. Something had happened in that kiss and neither of us wanted to acknowledge it.

And Sigebert was magically forgotten.

Xxxx

Friday went in a blur. I tried to act normal, but Eric`s kiss on Thursday made me blush every time I saw him. I was definitely the blushing bride Saturday morning and reality dawned upon me. I was getting married to a charming, smart, fun, hot and rich man – probably the guy I dreamed of when I was a kid. But I was marrying him for practical reasons and I wanted it to stay that way.

It had seemed so easy to get married when Eric suggested it, but complications kept piling up. I was close to calling the whole thing off, but couldn`t bring myself to do it.

So at 11, Pam had made sure my makeup was perfect without being too much and she had arranged my hair in a wave of curls that looked spectacular.

Eric had stayed the night in Pam`s apartment to make sure he didn`t see the dress before the wedding. I thought it was silly, but Pam had insisted. Now she was fussing around me like a mother hen.

"I`m not sure if it`s an American tradition to have something old and something new, something borrowed and something blue, but it is British – and so am I, you know. As your dress is both old and blue, you only need something borrowed and something new." She handed me a wrap that fit the dress perfectly. "This will keep you slightly warmer and if you give it back to me after the wedding, it`ll be borrowed,"

I gave Pam a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you."

"And here is something new. This is not from me, but from my brother."

Pam gave me a jewelry box and I started blushing again. Apparently I couldn`t even hear Eric`s name mentioned without turning red. I opened the box and the most exquisite necklace with a ruby pendant was inside. It was obviously new, but it fit the ring Eric had given me, perfectly.

Pam helped me put the pendant on and I looked in the mirror. I was pleased with the way I looked and was amazed at how little the turmoil inside me showed on the outside.

I was a nervous wreck when I walked out the door. `I am getting married`, was all I could think. Apparently the message that this was just a wedding between two friends had never reached my heart, because it was pumping blood around in my body in a life-threatening speed. My pulse was that of an athlete in the middle of the Olympics. Other parts of my body reacted in sympathy. I had dry mouth, shaky hands and a light dizziness that I prayed would not turn into nausea.

A black car decorated with flowers on the hood, waited for us outside Eric`s house and before I knew it, we were outside the courthouse of Oslo.

Eric was standing at the end of the marble stairs of the courthouse and when the car stood still, he almost torethe car door off its hinges. His huge hand helped me out and soon I had his strong arms around me and his warm lips on mine.

"You look fantastic," he said when he pulled back.

I took him in and had to admit he looked amazing himself. He was wearing a black suit that couldn`t have come off any rack, a white shirt and a black bowtie. A tiny bouquet of flowers lightened up his chest. My heart jumped in my chest.

"You don`t look half bad yourself," I smiled.

I hadn`t noticed the flowers in Eric`s hand. It was a larger copy of the small bouquet he had on his jacket.

"Your bridal flowers," Eric presented to me. "I do believe it`s the grooms responsibility to make sure the bride has flowers on her big day."

I blushed at the mention of our imminent wedding – or maybe it was just Eric`s bright smile and his winking that brought the colors to my cheek.

He gave me his arm. "Shall we, my future wife?" And we walked up the stairs. An inner voice kept screaming for me to turn around, but I didn`t. I knew it was wrong to get married just to get a work permit, but it felt right.

Inside the building a girl with brown hair came to meet us. She was dressed in a pink dress and high heels, which reminded me of the fact that I had to change shoe-wear. I found a chair and started pulling my boots off and the girl smiled at me. I started checking my inner cabinet files to see if this was someone I had met before, but it wasn`t.

Wearing shoes and giving the boots and coat to Pam, who immediately went to the cloak room to hand it in, I smiled at the girl. She apparently had something to say to me.

Eric stood up next to me and waved the girl closer.

"This is Amelia Broadway, Sookie," he smiled. "Two witnesses are needed for weddings in this country and I felt it was wrong if both of them were my family or friends, so I called the embassy and asked if they knew anyone from Louisiana who lived in Oslo." Eric was about to continue, but Pam was back and cut in.

"You did call Sookie`s brother first," she said.

"Pam!" Eric was angry. He looked back at me. "Yes, your brother was unfortunately hindered. It was a very short notice, you know, but he sends all his best wishes."

"I`m sure," I muttered.

Eric gave me a slight hug in sympathy and looked at the girl. "Amelia, this is my lovely bride to be, Sookie Stackhouse."

We shook hands and I asked her where she was from and was told, with a sweet smile, that she was from New Orleans. She seemed like a nice girl and I appreciated Eric`s sentiment. I felt less alone going to my own wedding with a fellow Louisiana-girl at my side.

Xxxx

If anyone had asked me afterwards what was said to me during the wedding, I would not have been able to answer the question. Not because I didn`t understand the Norwegian that was used by the official joining Eric and me in unholy matrimony, I understood every word, but because I had too many emotions riding through my brain.

"I now declare you husband and wife," was the only sentence I picked up. Eric kissed me and Pam tried to, but was pulled back by her brother. Amelia gave me a warm hug.

"Now let`s go to our wedding reception," Eric declared and spun me around.

I had never heard of any wedding reception being planned. I looked down at the new ring on my finger, next to the one Eric had given me just two days ago, and smiled.

"Yes, let`s go to our wedding reception," I answered and smiled at Eric.

* * *

**A/N:**

No cliffhanger this time. I hope the chapter gave you warm fuzzies.

I`m sitting here with a goofy grin on my face – for two reasons:

**1,** My one-shot **Dust Bunnies and Christmas Presents** is in the finale in the Naughty and Nice contest. That makes me really proud and happy. The contest has some amazing stories and I would recommend everyone to read them and vote: www . fanfiction . net/u/2163083/Naughty_or_Nice_List

**2,** My new story, **Dead with the Vikings**, had a really great reception yesterday. I posted the first chapter last night and I have never had this many reviews, subscriptions and favorites in such a short time.

Thank you so much for giving me warm fuzzies too :-D


	28. Chapter 28

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 28**

**A/N:**

First of all – I`m sorry I got a little preoccupied with my new shiny toy, the story "**Dead with the Vikings**" and haven`t updated this story in a while.

Second – thank you very much for your great reviews and for kicking my butt for not updating fast enough here. I know, I know, I left you all standing at the altar.

Third – thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** for betaing this and for (not so) gently reminding me of this story when I took off with the Vikings. You are a sweetheart!

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

"_I now declare you husband and wife," was the only sentence I picked up. Eric kissed me and Pam tried to, but was pulled back by her brother. Amelia gave me a warm hug. _

"_Now let`s go to our wedding reception," Eric declared and spun me around. _

_I had never heard of any wedding reception being planned. I looked down at the new ring on my finger, next to the one Eric had given me just two days ago, and smiled. _

"_Yes, let`s go to our wedding reception," I answered and smiled at Eric. _

* * *

**Chapter 28**

When we came out, the marble stairs were filled with photographers and reporters. I had tried for years to get publicity for my various clients and employers and I felt I had been quite successful too. Looking at the attention a small and discreet wedding was getting, I suddenly knew what publicity really felt like.

I tried to hide in Eric`s arms and I could feel him getting tense too. But then he leaned down and whispered in my ear. "We might as well make a show out of it, don`t you think? They won`t be able to deny you your work permit if our happy marriage is smeared out on all the front pages."

And then he gave me a deep and toe-curling kiss. I couldn`t help leaning into the kiss and returning it. Eric always was a great kisser.

The photographers went wild and I suddenly understood why celebrities wore sunglasses. My eyeballs hurt and I felt very uncomfortable. Eric looked at me and nodded.

I had seen a documentary about the icebreakers, the ships that make a passage through icy waters, and Eric looked just like one plowing our way through the thick mass of photographing and yelling people. It made me think of Moses when he parted waters. Eric made people move without even touching them.

"Come on, lover," he whispered to me. He hadn`t called me lover in some time and I looked at him to see what he meant. All I got was his waggling eyebrows.

"Eric," I scolded. "You can`t call me that."

"And why is that?" he said without waiting for my answer.

Before I knew it I was in a car going up the Ekeberg hill at the end of the Oslo harbor. The view over the harbor was very odd. The new opera house lay there like a white pearl in the dirt.

Oslo harbor was under serious restructuring. The highway was being moved into a tunnel, but since that hadn`t happened yet, everything was just huge holes in the ground and gigantic machines looking hideous against the water and the beautiful opera house. Oslo harbor was definitely not a pretty sight, but with some imagination, it wasn`t hard to see what a gem it could become. The Munch museum and the Viking ship museum were to be moved there so this would obviously be a huge tourist site in a few years. For now it was just plain ugly.

As the car drove up the serpentine road, and the construction site became smaller, one could also see the little islands in the harbor, the royal castle (and Eric`s house) and the Holmenkollen skijump on the mountain at the other end of Oslo.

I was so caught up in the sights, I hardly noticed the car had turned into the woods. Up there, with a view even more spectacular than from the road, was a white house from the 1930s with the name Ekeberg Restaurant in huge letters.

"May I escort my blushing bride to her wedding dinner?" Eric asked and his words became true because I did turn red at them.

I swatted his arm. "Don`t make fun of me."

Eric looked surprised. "I would never dream of it."

He then grabbed me by the hand and walked me up the stairs to a separate room where Pam and Amelia waited with champagne. Apart from the low number of guests, one would not have guessed that Eric`s and my wedding was just for me to get a work permit.

Eric had ordered the best of the best and we sat by the window and saw the sun go down in yellow, orange and purple colors in the afternoon sky. We were eating dessert when it was completely dark and Eric kissed my cheek.

"Look outside, lover."

I stared out at the city without really knowing what to look for, when suddenly fireworks broke the darkness. I jumped in my chair which made both Eric and Pam chuckle. Amelia and I ooohed and aaahed and I was almost moved to tears. I had had doubts about marrying for practical reasons and Eric had gone very far to make my wedding seem like a normal one. Apart from the bride and groom not being in love with each other, of course.

"Did you like it?" Eric asked me, his face like a boy who had just vacuumed the house and waited for praise from his parents.

"I certainly did, Eric." I gave his hand a squeeze because I really couldn`t say anything else, emotions having caught my voice.

Eric beamed. And so did Pam, whom I suspected had planned most of this.

Xxxx

The dinner was inevitably over and even if I didn`t want to leave the beautiful restaurant, I knew the waiters would look at us funny if we had pulled out sleeping bags and stayed the night.

The car took us downtown and I tried to swallow the bad taste I suddenly got in my mouth at the thought of me and Eric celebrating our wedding night separately.

Of course, Eric and I would not sleep together. It was not that kind of a marriage. But still. Like any girl, I had dreamed of my wedding night, that very special night where one consummates the marriage.

I was so deep in my thoughts I hadn`t noticed the car turning off the main road, before it stopped. I looked out and saw the tallest building in Oslo. Oslo Plaza Hotel.

I looked at Eric and he just smiled. "I`ve booked the honeymoon suite," he said as if that was the most normal thing to do. And for all I knew, it was very normal for newlyweds to book the honeymoon suite at the Oslo Plaza Hotel.

"But…" I started to say.

"Don`t worry, Sookie. I just wanted to give you as normal a wedding as I could under the circumstances and a honeymoon suite seemed to be part of the package."

"This isn`t a normal wedding, Eric."

"But you would have preferred a normal wedding, Sookie," Eric half-asked, half-stated.

"Yes, but the premise of the wedding would have been different. We would have married each other out of love."

Eric stood still, looking at me.

"Did you love me when I had my memory loss?" he asked just as we entered the elevator. I gasped in surprise and stared out the glass to the city in the hope the question would be forgotten.

Eric waited.

"Did I love you?" I knew Eric wasn't going to give up, and I might as well figure out an answer.

"Maybe. Sort of. But I knew all along that whoever was with me, it wasn't the real you. And I knew sooner or later you'd remember who you were and what you were."

"That wasn`t exactly a yes or no answer," he said.

"You don't exactly seem to know how you feel about me, either," I said.

"You're a mystery," he said. "I can`t guess what you feel or what you think. I usually have a pretty good idea about what women want, but you are an enigma."

I noticed how he never talked about his feelings. He only wanted to know mine.

"And why would you want to know?" I asked

"You know why I want to know. Now we are tied."

"We are getting a divorce in a couple of years, right? We won't always be like this?"

"I like being like this. You'll like it, too," he said, and he seemed mighty damn sure.

Xxx

We came to the top floor and Eric unlocked the door. It was a huge suite with a view over most of Oslo. I could even see the Ekeberg Restaurant where we had dined. I stood and looked out the window for a while, not really knowing what to do.

Eric poured us both a glass of champagne.

"To my lovely wife," he toasted.

I frowned. "Eric, you can give up the charade now. We are alone."

"And so we are," he smiled. His arm snaked around my waist.

"You are cold and warm and I can`t keep track of you."

"You don`t have to keep track of me. I`m right here." He kissed my cheek.

"Yeah, and for how long?" I sighed.

"For as long as you want me."

_`Or as long as there isn`t another woman around,`_ I thought, but I didn`t say it.

We stood there quiet for some time. Then I turned around and looked at him.

"Eric. I really want to thank you for doing this."

"This as in marrying you so you can stay in the country or this as in actually celebrating it?" he asked.

"Well, both. But right now I meant the celebrating part. It was very sweet of you."

"Oh, I thought you knew me well enough to know that I`m never sweet." He pulled me closer.

"You are. You are such a big teddy bear." I teased.

"Would a teddy bear do this?" he asked and then he kissed me. I was taken by surprise, which is actually funny when you think about it. What bride would be surprised when her groom kissed her on her wedding night in their honeymoon suite?

The kiss started out sweet, but when I kissed back, Eric`s tongue found it`s playmate in my mouth. We kissed for a while and I really wanted us to continue, but knew I had to pull back.

"Eric, we can`t." I tried to catch my breath again. And my brain.

"Why is that?"

"We don`t love each other."

"When we made love at the cabin you weren`t in love with me and I didn`t even know who you were. We still enjoyed ourselves as far as I can recall." He tried to kiss me again so I stepped back.

"Yes, but how is that going to work now? Being married for practical reasons and having sex. It`s just too confusing and I`m afraid we will just end up hurting each other`s feelings."

"Would it make matters better if we were married for impractical reasons?" Eric`s voice was low, but I still heard him.

"What are you saying?"

"I like you, Sookie. You can`t have missed that?"

I sighed. Deep down I knew he liked me. But was that enough? I looked up at his face and our eyes met. How had I ended up like this? Getting myself married to a man I was really attracted to and then denying myself sex with him.

It could have been the champagne making its moves, but I was pretty sure it wasn`t. Before I could stop myself, I got up on my toes, weaved my fingers into the hair of his neck, pulled him down and kissed him. Deeply.

He moaned and soon his hands were all over me. I untied his bowtie and started opening his shirt. I felt his hands on my zipper and then cool air on my back.

My dress fell to the floor and so did Eric`s shirt. I worked on his pants button, but it was one of those pants with an extra hidden button and I just couldn`t get them opened. Men complain about women`s bras, but dress pants are definitely not easier.

Eric took my hands and wrapped them around his neck, grabbed my butt and pulled my legs around his waist. He then carried me towards the bedroom.

"Brides are carried over the threshold, right?" Eric mumbled while nibbling at my neck.

I giggled the silliest giggle, but the situation called for it.

We landed on the bed and I had a small strain of thought going through my mind that this would be wrong, but it disappeared as soon as it had arrived. No sane woman could say no to what Eric and I were going to do. Probably not any insane women either.

I was only wearing bra, panties and stay-ups when I landed on my bed, but soon I only had one stay-up left and it wasn`t staying up for very long. Eric kissed me and licked me and I had a hard time laying still. Staying quiet was definitely something I couldn`t do. I moaned and sighed and even called his name out a couple of times.

"I have waited for this for so long, Sookie," Eric whispered just before his mouth started working miracles between my legs. I held on to the headboard just to make sure I wasn`t going to fly off the bed. My legs went so far apart, I could almost have applied for a job at the ballet company because of my perfect split. I wanted to give him full access and he had it.

He licked, sucked and kissed me in perfect rhythms while his thumb was making circles around my increasingly wet hole. It was heaven on earth and after a few minutes I got to see a piece of Paradise too. I made a deep guttural sound, not being able to control my own voice. My body trembled and I gasped for air.

"Oh Eric," I growled, pulling his head up to mine. I wanted desperately to kiss him. He complied and soon his hands were on my breasts and mine were on his crotch.

"You seem to be slightly overdressed for the occasion," I tugged at his pants.

Eric pulled back and slowly removed the pieces of clothing he was still wearing, all of it to my whistling and hollering. He took a small foil pack out of his pants pockets before he threw them on the floor.

Before I knew it he was back between my legs, wearing the condom. I kissed him deeply when he entered me even more deeply below.

We moaned in each other`s mouths while he was going in a slow rhythm. I met him every time he pushed and soon we were sweating and grunting and grinding our pelvises against each other.

"This is how it should be, Sookie," Eric breathed. "This is how we should be."

His words went into my ears, roamed around in my brain until they found my pleasure center. Then they pushed me over the edge with a scream.

Eric followed me over the cliff and afterwards we were lying in bed, our limbs intertwined. Both of us were so thoroughly spent, we could hardly speak.

"Happy wedding, lover," Eric said and then he kissed my cheek,

"Happy wedding, Eric," I said back and then I smiled. It had certainly been a happy wedding so far.

* * *

**A/N:**

We are not completely out of the angst department, but I figured we all needed some sweetness, right?

I hope you liked this chapter and that it was worth the wait.


	29. Chapter 29

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chaper 29**

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for the great response the last chapter got. I am so thrilled you like my humanizing of the great SVM-tale!

Thank you also to my sweet friend **Rascalthemutant** for reading and correcting this!

I do not own the character or any passages from the SVM-books. Charlaine Harris does. I only took them home with me to play house :-D

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_Before I knew it he was back between my legs, wearing the condom. I kissed him deeply when he entered me even more deeply below._

_We moaned in each other`s mouths while he was going in a slow rhythm. I met him every time he pushed and soon we were sweating and grunting and grinding our pelvises against each other._

_"This is how it should be, Sookie," Eric breathed. "This is how we should be."_

_His words went into my ears, roamed around in my brain until they found my pleasure center. Then they pushed me over the edge with a scream._

_Eric followed me over the cliff and afterwards we were lying in bed, our limbs intertwined. Both of us were so thoroughly spent, we could hardly speak._

_"Happy wedding, lover," Eric said and then he kissed my cheek,_

_"Happy wedding, Eric," I said back and then I smiled. It had certainly been a happy wedding so far._

* * *

**Chapter 29**

I was awoken the next morning by a basic need that I had to see to. I went to the bathroom, took care of business and also had a glass of water to drink. My mouth felt like someone had put carpet on my tongue and painted my teeth with cotton, so I decided to brush my teeth too.

I looked in the mirror and smiled. I had married Eric Northman and now I had made love to him too. I wasn`t sure what the future would bring, but right now, things looked good. I would of course have preferred a marriage out of love, but I liked Eric and he seemed to like me. We were great friends and we had a connection I had never had with anyone before. He was funny and charming and really smart. And the sex was amazing.

I knew it wasn`t the marriage I had always dreamed of, but I refused to ruin my good mood and let my thoughts wander in that direction. Right now I was in the honeymoon suite with my husband and never mind the rest.

Of course, my mind never did as it was told. It reminded me of Eric the womanizer and tried to tell me this would all end in tears. So I quickly walked out of the bathroom and back to the bedroom.

Eric looked so good lying there on his stomach with the covers halfway down, revealing his strong back and just a hint of butt cheek.

I crawled under the covers and put my arm on his back and my leg over his thighs. I sighed and kissed his shoulder.

Eric stirred and lifted his head. His beautiful blue eyes opened and looked straight at me. They made me all warm and fuzzy inside. A great night had really softened me towards my new husband.

I smiled at him. "Good morning, sunshine," I said with a smile.

"Good morning, lover. Or should I say, good morning, wife?"

He kissed my cheek and then worked his way to my ear and down to my neck. I closed my eyes and felt goosebumps starting to form on my neck and back. He licked me tentatively just where my hair met my neck and then he nibbled a little.

I couldn`t help moaning when his hand touched the small of my back and worked its way down to my behind. He lingered a little there while my hand trailed down to copy his hand. We played a game of copy for a while, stroking and caressing each other`s butts with our palms and fingers.

Eric pushed me slightly backwards and then he kissed my collar bone and my chest, going down to one of my breasts where he stopped. He kissed it and sucked gently and I made little sounds of pleasure.

I let my hand make circles around his nipples. I then pushed him to lie on his back and started sucking on them.

"Bite me," Eric said, and he meant it literally.

"Why?"

"Because it makes me feel good," he said. "Just . . . for that."

I bit him and he made all kinds of sounds that went straight to my gut, and further down.

"Would you like to be on top?" Eric asked.

"We could do that for a while," I said, trying not to sound too femme fatale. In fact, it was hard not to growl. Before I could even gather myself I had put a condom on him and I was straddling him.

His eyes were intent on mine. His hands went up to my breasts, caressing and pinching gently, and his mouth followed after his hands.

I was afraid I was losing control of my leg muscles, I was so relaxed. I moved slowly, not very regularly. I felt the tension gradually beginning to build. I began to focus, to move steadily.

"Slow," he said, and I reduced the pace. His hands found my hips and began to direct me.

"Oh," I said, as a sharper pleasure began to seep through me. He'd found my pleasure center with his thumb. I began to speed things up, and if he tried to slow me after that, I ignored it. I rose and fell faster and faster, and then pinched his nipple, since I couldn`t bite it from my current position. He yelled, an incoherent sound of release and relief. That was enough to finish me, and I collapsed on top of him. I licked his nipple lazily.

"Perfect," he said. "Perfect."

I started to tell him he couldn't possibly mean that, as many women as he'd had over the years, but I figured,`Why spoil the moment`? Let it be. In a rare moment of wisdom, I listened to my own advice.

I was completely spent, but Eric seemed to have gotten energy out of our lovemaking. He kissed me and sat up on his knees, his naked torso for my eyes only.

"Let`s go to Denmark again," he suddenly said out loud. "My mother has been asking me to attend some rich-people-get-together and she promised to behave towards you. Actually her exact words were `I want to welcome her to our family`." Eric smiled and I couldn`t imagine where that sudden naiveté of his had come from. His mother would rather welcome the devil than me. Which she probably had. "We could have a great honeymoon after we`ve meeted and greeted for a day or two." He looked at me. "What do you say?"

I didn`t have words. He wanted me to meet his mother, who disliked my very being, together with a lot of rich people who would make me feel like the poor cousin from the countryside? And then he would take me on a honeymoon for a marriage that was just for practical reasons.

I looked at him. Maybe the marriage had turned into something more and we really should have a honeymoon. But the mother-in-law was the same.

"Do we have to meet your mother?"

Eric was quiet for a moment. "No, of course we don`t have to. But she is my mother and this was important to her. And things would be so much easier if she actually acknowledges you."

"What things?"

"Well, everything. Family events, my relationship to her… my life." Eric drew a breath.

I couldn`t help laughing. "Ok. I can`t resist those puppy-dog eyes. And if you really think she`ll behave, then I won`t turn her down. She is your mother."

"She is," he sighed.

"But if she mentions babies, I`m out of there."

"Me too," he laughed. "Me too."

That made me study him a little closer. He didn`t want children or he didn`t want children with me? Or was he just agreeing with me? I mentally slapped myself for even going down that road of thoughts.

Xxxxx

I ended up saying yes to going to Denmark. Eric could be very persuasive and I was also intrigued. We were going to the small village of Rude and were staying at the castle of Holsteinborg. The castle was owned by one of Denmark`s richest men and was therefore a fitting meeting place for rich people from all over Europe.

Eric would not tell me where we were going on our honeymoon afterwards and it bugged me. He had arranged a sweet and wonderful wedding, but I didn`t want him to take over my life and run it for me. Bill had done that and I did not want it repeated.

But then I forgot just how annoyed I was when I held Eric`s hand and looked him deep in the eyes.

xxx

Eric wasn`t the only one taking over my life. Pam had met us at the hotel with a suitcase for each of us. She had found some clothes for me to wear on the trip and they were neatly packed in the suitcase labeled "Sookie Northman" (which was Pam`s joke, not my name). And when I said found, I didn`t mean found in my wardrobe. All the clothes were brand new and from shops I would never enter even if they paid me to be there, which they never would. It was way too expensive for my taste.

Pam explained that there were certain requirements when one met up with the rich and powerful, and one of them was being well-dressed. I tried to tell her I wasn`t her personal Barbie doll, but that just made her laugh.

So I went on a trip to meet a person I didn`t want to meet, at a conference I didn`t want to attend, wearing clothes I didn`t like to wear.

I guess it showed just how close I had gotten to Eric Northman. And that troubled me more than the mother-in-law and the clothes.

Xxxx

Rude was a good hour drive from Copenhagen. We had to take little country roads the last half hour and I got to see the flat pastures of Denmark. They were of course mainly grey and brown now with the winter, but there was no snow as in Norway.

The roads got more and more narrow and when we drove through Rude, I almost felt as if we drove through the living rooms of the houses close to the road.

So when we finally came to the castle, I had to gape. It was huge. Eric told me the castle had been built in the 13th century and that didn`t make me gape any less. It was a beautiful castle, situated by the water and with a huge forest surrounding it.

Large wooden doors were opened by men dressed in 17th century clothes, white wigs and all. It seemed ridiculous and I couldn`t stop a giggle. Pam winked at me and I giggled some more. I was like a school girl in the line to a boyband concert.

Our suitcases were carried by some of the dressed up men. They all had a stiff face and their eyes never met ours.

"Let me give you the grand tour of the castle, Sookie. I don`t think my mother has arrived yet which means we have some time to ourselves. Maybe we should start by checking out our room?" His smile indicated that he mainly wanted to check out the bed.

Pam rolled her eyes. "You are so subtle, big brother. I know I wanted you two to get together, but please keep your love life to yourself."

"Your life would be so boring without having front row tickets to mine, Pam," Eric teased.

"Your love life was giving me an ulcer, but I hope those days are over now that you`ve married Sookie," Pam stated. "Now I just want to puke from all your affection and that is so much better than constant stomach pains."

Eric opened his mouth for a comeback when I took his hand and pulled at him.

"Let us look at the castle, Eric. We can always see our room later."

Eric was like a kid being dragged empty-handed out of a candy store, but regained his smile.

"Of course, Sookie. Very wise of you to leave our room as the last stop on our tour." And then he kissed me.

"Good grief." Pam stuck her tongue out at us.

Xxxx

The castle was huge and so was the park. It was pretty cold so when we came back to the castle, I tried to get inside as fast as possible. In my efforts to escape the freezing temperatures, I ran straight into a guy and almost fell to the floor.

He steadied me with his hand on my arm and when I looked at him, I saw a familiar face.

"Barry!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" Before he got a chance to answer, I threw myself into a hug with him.

We hugged for a long time and he kept saying my name, first surprised and then thrilled.

After some time, Eric coughed slightly and we pulled back. I smiled at Eric, so happy to have met my old friend in this unlikely place.

"Barry, this is my hmmm husband Eric." This was the first time I introduced him as my husband and it felt very strange. "Eric, my old friend from university, Barry."

They shook hands, but I couldn`t take my eyes off Barry.

"Wow, what happened to that skinny boy who used to complain about no one noticing him? You have really filled out."

And he had. I didn`t even know it was possible to double your shoulder width, but Barry had. His chest was muscular and his upper arms were very toned. He wore a tight t-shirt to emphasize his new body even if the weather definitely called for sweaters and long sleeves.

"I got sick of my own whining and got myself a membership in a sports club."

"Good for you," I said and I couldn`t help touching his biceps.

"You on the other hand look just as great as you did back then," Barry flattered me.

I giggled a little. "I think you were the only one who thought I looked even half-decent of all the kids on campus. You saved my self-esteem, you know."

Eric sidestepped a little and tried to get my attention.

"We should get going, Sookie," he said.

I looked at him, not really understanding what the hurry was. He then pulled me away which made me slightly annoyed. I hadn`t seen my old friend in over five years and Eric could have spared me a few more minutes. But then I figured we would see much more of Barry since we were staying at the same castle.

"See you later, Barry," I yelled at him when we were leaving the room.

"Looking forward to it, sweetheart," he replied.

* * *

**A/N:**

Just for the record: The count living on Holsteinborg castle is by no means rich – I just made him that for my little tale. He will probably be pleased, he needs the money for very necessary maintainance. The village of Rude (where my mother lives, btw :-D) was just too close to `Rhodes` for me not to use it. Ah, I`m so cheap.

I hope you liked this chapter.

If you worry about Barry being a threat – don`t. That`s all I can say :-D


	30. Chapter 30

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 30**

**A/N: **

I am so amazed. All you sweethearts have given this story more than a thousand reviews!! Actually both my ongoing stories, this and **Dead with the Vikings**, hit the thousand reviews mark the same week, which left me in a silly giggle fit. You guys all deserve to have a tall, blond Viking knocking on your door!

Thank you so much, **Rascalthemutant**, for reading and correcting this *hugs and kisses*.

Unfortunately I don`t own Eric or Sookie or any quotes I use. I just wish I did.

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

_Eric sidestepped a little and tried to get my attention._

"_We should get going, Sookie," he said._

_I looked at him, not really understanding what the hurry was. He then pulled me away which made me slightly annoyed. I hadn`t seen my old friend in over five years and Eric could have spared me a few more minutes. But then I figured we would see much more of Barry since we were staying at the same castle. _

"_See you later, Barry," I yelled at him when we were leaving the room._

"_Looking forward to it, sweetheart," he replied. _

* * *

**Chapter 30**

"Who was that?" Eric asked as we walked on.

I was so giddy from seeing my best friend again after all this time, I didn`t pay attention to Eric`s frown.

"Oh Barry? He was my best friend at university. We studied PR and Communications together and we were very close. Unfortunately Bill couldn`t stand him and I kind of lost contact with Barry over the years. Can you imagine how happy I was to see him here of all places?" I smiled.

Barry and I had been two peas in a pod, always together, always gossiping and having fun. We were both the odd ones at the university. Barry was gay and I was the girl from the backwaters of Louisiana. Barry was skinny and looked like he wanted to apologize to the whole world for his existence and I never got the dress codes or how to behave like the girls at the cool girl`s table in the cafeteria.

We had saved each other from loneliness, but also found that we had a lot in common. We were both very good, almost intuitively, in PR and we were surprised at how little some of our co-students understood.

And we both loved to dance. We had started out dancing around in my room, but after a while we had gone out just to shake our bodies. Barry didn`t drink and neither did I. Well, not much, at least. But we danced for hours. We even won a competition or two.

"Were you two….?" Eric asked.

I looked at Eric. What was he asking? If Barry and I had been lovers? Eric must have missed some very vital information when he saw Barry. To me it was obvious Barry carried a sign that said `men only` on his forehead (and possibly on other body parts), but apparently Eric had been too busy checking out the competition to notice.

I could have been the nice girl and explained this to Eric, but why should I? Eric was probably the worst man-whore in all of Scandinavia and everywhere I looked, I would see his ex-lovers. I didn`t throw a hissy fit over girls he said `hi` to.

The number of men that had ever been between my sheets sexually could be counted on one hand. And that would be on a person without a thumb. Or an index finger.

I hated jealousy, but if Eric couldn`t see he had nothing to fear from Barry, so be it.

"If we were…?" I looked at Eric. "What are you asking? If we were lovers? No, Eric," I explained in a voice usually used for slow children, "Barry has never been my lover." I rolled my eyes for good measure.

We were back in the hall when a familiar person walked towards us. Sigebert. He looked at Eric.

"Your mother has arrived and would like to see you, Eric." He then looked at me. His gaze was neutral. "And you, Sookie."

I swallowed. I was in no hurry to say hello to my new mother-in-law. Suddenly I felt Eric`s arm around my waist and he pulled me into his body and the tension ran out of me.

Eric could have been sold in little, well large, bottles as medicine against anxiety attacks. Actually Eric could be medicine against a whole lot of things and I was thankful I had him close to me.

Gone was my annoyance with his reaction to Barry and I leaned into him and hugged him.

We walked up the stairs, arm in arm, after Sigebert. Sigebert knocked on a huge wooden door and we entered. The room was large and decorated with silk tapestry, centuries old furniture and dark paintings on the walls.

At one end of the room there was a four-poster bed and at the other, soft chairs and a couch. Sophie Anne rested on a chaise longue, but when we entered she got up and came towards us with her hands outstretched. She said my name for about a minute, lucky that it had so many vowels.

She gave me a large hug and kissed both my cheeks.

"I am so glad my son finally came around and married you," she exclaimed and I was about to call her out on her lie when I saw Eric`s smile. He may have been annoyed with his mother, but she was still his flesh and blood and I would just have to play nice. I gritted my teeth and smiled back at her.

She took my hand and pulled me over to the couch.

"Come sit here next to me." Sophie Anne patted the couch. "And tell me all about yourself."

The next hour or so was spent on Eric`s mother asking me all kinds of questions and me trying to avoid answering them without seeming impolite.

Xxx

Finally Eric got up.

"We have to get ready for the ball, mother." He took my hand and after we had said our goodbyes, we left the room and went to our own.

Our suitcases were already there.

"The dinner won`t be until after the dance because some of the guests are arriving rather late," Eric explained.

I nodded. "Who are the guests?" Eric had just mentioned they were rich, but I really didn`t know anything about them.

"They are shipping tycoons, owners of huge grocery chains, oil magnates, hotel chain playboys, you name it. Old money and new money, money is what they have in common. They meet up discreetly from time to time and my mother is really thrilled to have been invited to the `it`-circle."

"And why are they gathering like this?" I asked.

"To make deals. To brag. To enjoy the company of other stinking rich people."

"And why are we here. I mean, I assume Viking Games isn`t making you that much money?"

"I have enough for the salt on my porridge."

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry, a Norwegian expression. Well, I get by and I`m probably rich compared to most people, but I certainly am a pauper in this company." Eric paused and started to undress. I raised my eyebrows, but he just smiled. "I get by financially, but I`m really here because my mother wants to introduce me to people who can be useful to me. And I assume she is showing off my beautiful bride as well since I have quite the … hmm … reputation and I guess she wants to have them see me as the new responsible married me." Eric flashed all 32 teeth. Or 28. I couldn`t tell if he had his wisdom teeth.

I didn`t appreciate being dragged to this place just to be Eric`s alibi as a born-again grown-up and I supposed that was what made me cross my arms over my chest.

Eric came over to me and pulled me into his embrace. He was only wearing his t-shirt and boxers. His trousers and shirt were on the chair.

"I`m not playing games with you, you know. I`m here because from time to time I try to be the good son, even if I know she doesn`t deserve it." Eric kissed the tip of my nose. "And we are going on a honeymoon afterwards." He pulled away slightly to look at me. "It was going to be a surprise, but how do the Danish West Indies sound to you?"

"The what?"

Eric laughed. "I suppose you know them under the name US Virgin Islands. They were Danish-Norwegian when Denmark and Norway were one country, and then just Danish up until 1917 when you guys bought them for $25 million."

"We are going to the US Virgin Islands?" I squeeled.

"If you want to. My mother has a house on St. Croix and it`s perfect for a honeymoon."

"I`d love to go there. I mean, if you want to?"

"Of course I do, Sookie. We would have so much fun there. We could swim and surf and maybe take little boat trips with my mother`s boat."

I was just about to give Eric a kiss when a knock on the door stopped me. Eric rolled his eyes.

Pam opened the door without waiting for a signal. That made Eric huff.

"Didn`t you learn to wait for people to say `enter` before you opened the door?"

"Sure," Pam said with a smile. "But I get to see so much more interesting things when I just jump into a room." Her smile turned into a smirk. "At least I knocked."

"Fuck you, Pam." Eric exclaimed.

"Well, if Sookie were to make the offer, I wouldn`t turn her down," Pam teased. I couldn`t help laughing, but as most little sisters, she knew exactly how to get her big brother to blow steam out of his ears.

"Piss off, Pam."

"Calm down before you pop a vein. I was just coming to tell you to get your asses ready." And with that she was out the door again.

Xxxx

I was wearing a midnight blue gown Pam had bought me. It was an amazing dress that fit me like a glove. Judging from Eric`s look when he saw me, he liked it as well.

We had eaten a few sandwiches that were delivered to our room by waiters dressed in the same 17th century uniforms we had seen when we arrived. It seemed weird to get a ham-and-cheese from guys wearing white wigs, but I suppose it would have been worse if I had asked for peanut-butter and jelly as I really wanted.

I applied a little make up and ran a brush through my hair and I was ready. Eric eyes ran up and down my body.

"Most of the ladies at the ball are going to be wearing jewels so huge they will almost break under the weight. Looking at you proves just how ridiculous that is. You will outshine them all."

I blushed slightly.

"Of course, if you want to wear the GNP of a smaller country around your neck, you just let me know," he winked.

I laughed. "I don`t really think that`s me."

"Which is one of the things I like about you." Eric kissed my cheek and off we went.

Xxxx

The dance had already started when we entered the ballroom. If I had been worried about the dances only being waltzes, or even older dances, I was relieved to see a DJ spinning records and playing great dance tunes.

Then Eric said, "Let's dance," and I found I couldn't say no. Of course, the DJ put on a very slow tune just then. I couldn`t sing, but by golly, I could dance. And Eric had had a few ballroom lessons along the way. My hand rested on his back, his on mine, our free hands clasped, and off we went.

We took the floor along with Sophie Anne and a few very wealthy looking couples. I wasn't sure exactly what the dance was, but Eric was a strong leader, so it was easy to follow along. More like the waltz than anything else, I decided.

"That is a pretty dress," Eric said. "And you are a beautiful woman."

I was oddly embarrassed. I'd gotten compliments before—you don`t go to university parties with my D-cup and not get compliments—but most of them had consisted of (various degrees of drunk) guys telling me I was really cute—or, in one man's case, how impressive my "rack" was.

"Eric," I said, but I couldn't finish the sentence because I couldn't think of what to say next. I had to concentrate on the speed with which my feet were moving. We were dancing so fast I felt like I was flying. Suddenly Eric dropped my hand to grip my waist, and as we turned, he swung me out, and then I was twirling, with a little help from a Norwegian Viking. I laughed like a loon, my hair billowing out around my head, and then he let me go and caught me, just inches from his own body, and then he did it again and again, until at last I was standing on the floor and the music was over.

"Thank you," I said, knowing I must look like I'd been standing in a high gale. "Excuse me while I go to the ladies' room."

I scooted off through the crowd, trying not to grin like an idiot. I was with—oh, yeah—my _husband_. I giggled at the thought.

Xxxx

I had dabbed my reddish face with cold water and taken a few deep breaths and was ready to face the world, and Eric, again.

Unfortunately he was nowhere to be found when I came out. I felt a bit out of place until I saw Barry again. I smiled and went over to him and was greeted by him smiling back and giving me a warm hug. The hug was really a reminder of matchstick-Barry being replaced by a more muscular version of him.

"What happened to you?" was the first thing I asked.

"I guess I decided to find not only my inner, but also my outer strength," he replied with a proud smile.

"Good for you! You look amazing."

Barry took a step back and assessed me. "Well, so do you, girlfriend."

We talked for some time, catching up like only good friends can. I couldn`t help touching his new body, so as to reassure myself it was really him. Barry smiled and laughed and so did I.

Barry was there as the PR-manager of some Texan oil tycoon. I told him I was married to Eric and he gave me a huge hug and congratulated me for finally coming to my senses about Bill.

Suddenly the DJ decided to play Britney Spears `Hit Me Baby` and I squealed. Not because I was a big Britney-fan, but because this was one of the songs Barry and I had rehearsed a dance to. I pulled him out on the dance floor and we did the whole routine with slapping each other`s butts, shaking our stuff and miming to the song.

I was having the time of my life when, in the middle of me miming `Oh, pretty baby, I shouldn`t have let you go`, I heard a voice behind me.

"What are you doing?" Eric asked, and he wasn't being facetious. He was glacial with disapproval.

"Dancing, why?" I gave a wave to signal Eric to scoot. But Barry had stopped, already, and given me a little good-bye wave.

"I was having a good time," I protested.

"You were twitching your assets in front of every male in the room," he said. "Like a…"

"You hold up, buddy! You stop right there!" I held up a finger, warning him.

"Take your finger out of my face," he said.

I inhaled to say something unforgivable, welcoming the tide of anger with actual delight—I was _not _tied to him at the waist—when I saw Sophie Anne staring at me. I blushed and walked out of the room with tears burning behind my eyelids.

I met Pam just outside the ballroom.

"Do you have the key to your room?" I asked.

"Yes, of course," she said and produced it from her purse.

I took her key and gave her mine instead.

"I`m taking over your room," I said.

Pam smiled, apparently thinking I was joking. "Is the honeymoon over already?"

"You go ask that bullheaded brother of yours," I hissed and stalked up the stairs.

I unlocked the door to Pam`s room and threw myself on her bed and cried into the pillow. I cried tears of anger and tears of a broken heart. I wished dearly Eric and I had had a conversation about rules and expectations before we got married. But I had been carried away by Eric`s grand wedding and the great sex – and completely forgotten why I had married him.

To get a work permit.

* * *

**A/N:**

I`ll be hiding in my basement for your reactions to this chapter.


	31. Chapter 31

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 31**

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for all your great reviews, PMs and comments here on Fanfic, on Twitter and at the Alexander Skarsgård Library forum. I suck on them like candy – and they aren`t even fattening :-D

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** for being such a great beta and friend!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_I took her key and gave her mine instead. _

"_I`m taking over your room," I said._

_Pam smiled, apparently thinking I was joking. "Is the honeymoon over already?"_

"_You go ask that bullheaded brother of yours," I hissed and stalked up the stairs. _

_I unlocked the door to Pam`s room and threw myself on her bed and cried into the pillow. I cried tears of anger and tears of a broken heart. I wished dearly Eric and I had had a conversation about rules and expectations before we got married. But I had been carried away by Eric`s grand wedding and the great sex – and completely forgotten why I had married him._

_To get a work permit. _

* * *

**Chapter 31**

I must have fallen asleep because I woke up hungry and with sore eyes. I looked at my watch and knew I had slept through dinner and was a bit embarrassed over it. But a bit relieved too. I didn`t want to sit next to Eric under the circumstances and I certainly didn`t want to see Sophie Anne.

And why hadn`t Eric knocked on my door? If he had wanted me to join the dinner, he should have picked me up. Eric was probably still angry with me which made him a person I had even less desire to see.

My stomach growled and I got up to take care of it. I missed home and having my own kitchen. I went to the phone so I could call and see if there was some kind of room service at this castle. Or maybe some leftovers I could have.

I lifted the phone and tried to make a call but it was dead.

I decided to try and find the kitchen to see if I could talk the chef into allowing me to make myself a little snack. I didn`t want to go hungry all the way through the night.

I walked down the stairs and was surprised I didn`t see any people. I would have thought there would be people partying everywhere, but it was very quiet.

I went to the basement and after having tried a lot of closed doors, I finally found the kitchen. I knocked on the open door, but no one answered so I walked in.

It was an old kitchen, but with very modern appliances. It being old meant that it consisted of a lot of small rooms connected to the large one. There was food out on the tables, but I wanted to ask permission before I took any so I went looking in all the rooms.

I was in the room furthest from the entrance to the kitchen when I heard voices. I turned around to go meet whoever was entering the kitchen when I stopped in my tracks. The two people spoke Danish, and my knowledge of Norwegian allowed me to understand bits and pieces - and more than enough to understand that these weren`t ordinary chefs.

"Is everyone asleep?" someone asked in English. Apparently the third person wasn`t Scandinavian.

The two others laughed. "Oh yes, it`s two hours since dinner and the drugs are working. It won`t be long before they are ready to have their picture taken."

"I can`t wait to take those rich fuckers down a notch or ten," the other yelled and they were all screaming what sounded like war cries. I shuddered. What was happening?

I peeked out and saw the guys who had worn the silly wigs, now with their heads bare. I gasped because they all had shaven heads and were now putting on ski masks.

"Get the other ones. We are gathering in the dining room. And make a count so we are sure everyone is there. We are supposed to be 41 of us." They all ran up the stairs.

I had no idea what they were planning on doing, but it sounded bad. And I couldn`t do anything alone against so many. I knew I had to be fast though. If I wanted to go escape, I needed to do it when all the ski mask guys were gathering in the dining room.

I tried calling Eric and then Pam. Then I tried Eric again. None of them answered their phones.

"Dammit," I swore to myself.

I sneaked out of the kitchen and peaked around the corner. Then I ran as fast and as noiselessly as I could up the stairs. Just when I came to the hall, I saw the door handle to the entrance door move and I hid behind a chair. The door opened and I couldn`t be more relieved when I saw who entered.

Barry.

He was looking at his cell phone, apparently trying to call someone, and I ran over to him. He was wearing a track suit and was wet all over.

"We have to get out, Barry!" I whispered.

"Why?"

"Something is going on here. The staff, the ones with wigs, have something planned. I`m not sure what, but it seems they are going to do something to the guests. I sounded as if they had drugged everyone."

Barry looked shocked.

"So taht is why I can`t get a hold of Stan."

"Stan?"

"Yes, the guy I`m working for. I was out running and wanted to check in before I went to my room to shower and go to sleep."

"So you haven`t eaten the food?" I asked.

"No, I always bring my own food. I`ve become very preoccupied with my health and I just can`t stomach these business dinners. All the meat and gravy and…"

"Yeah, yeah," I hissed. "What do we do? They are all in the dining room and I don`t want to get caught."

"I suppose we could get out of here and notify the police." Barry looked insecure.

"We are way out in the countryside, Barry. What if people are hurt before… What if Eric..."

I knew what I had to do. I had to get Eric and Pam out of here. I told Barry, who decided to help out Stan, and we both ran up the stairs to the bedrooms.

I came to the door of the room Eric and I were supposed to have shared. I tried to open it and feared it would be locked because I wouldn`t have known what to do if it was. In cop shows on television it seemed so easy to kick open a door, but this was a huge oak door and I knew I would only break my ankles if I tried opening it without using a key.

I held my breath as I tried the door handle and drew it when the door opened. I thanked all the gods I could think of, Christian, Norse or otherwise, and quickly made my entrance. Eric and Pam were on the bed, sleeping deeply. Neither of them heard me coming into the room.

"Eric, Pam!" I yelled. I fumbled for a light switch, and heard voices from downstairs, shouting orders to each other.

"Wake up!" I said, shaking Pam since she was closest. She didn't stir at all. It was exactly like shaking a doll stuffed with sawdust. "Eric!" I screamed right in his ear.

This got a bit of a reaction; he was much larger than Pam so the drugs they had had, probably didn`t work as hard on him. Or he hadn`t eaten as much as Pam. For a short moment I hoped his appetite had been ruined by our quarrel, but then I chastised myself for being so petty.

His eyes opened a slit and tried to focus. "What?" he said.

"You have to get up! You have to! You have to get out!"

"Sleep," he whispered. He began to flop over on his side.

I slapped him harder than I've ever hit anyone in my life. I screamed, "Get up!" until my voice would hardly work. Finally Eric stirred and managed to sit up. He was wearing black silk pajama bottoms and nothing else.

Voices were now in the corridor, right outside the room and I stood still, listening for them. I didn`t have the key to the room, so I couldn`t lock the door.

Eric would drop back to sleep if I didn't keep him awake, but he was trying. Pam simply could not be roused. I even pulled her long blond hair.

"You have to help me get Pam out," I said finally, despairing. "Eric, you just have to." There was no way I could carry Pam.

Eric staggered to his feet. I ran to the bathroom and got a glass of cold water. I was going to give it to him to drink, but when I got back and saw how he was almost sleeping standing up, I threw it in his face.

"Fuck," Eric yelled, but he looked much more awake. He shook his head and looked at me, still drowsy, but ready for action.

"Lift her body and I`ll carry her legs."

In a joint effort, Eric and I managed to get Pam off the bed and towards the door. Eric was staggering and I wasn`t much better. Eric could probably have carried Pam alone if he hadn`t been drugged, but I was panting under the weight of her.

"When we get out of this door, we need to run," I whispered to Eric. I hadn`t heard anyone out in the corridor for some time and I hoped it meant they were somewhere else entirely. I cold sweated at the thought of them being 41 people and we being me, a half-drugged Eric and Pam out cold.

Eric nodded and drew a heavy breath as to clear his mind. His willpower impressed me and I couldn`t help sending him an admiring smile. Eric squinted a little but then he smiled back.

I opened the door slightly and peeked out. No one was there. I nodded to Eric.

"At the count of three," I whispered.

And at the count of three we opened the door wide and started running. We almost fell because our strides were so different, Eric being so tall and I so short. Eric looked at me and then he took Pam and threw her over his shoulder. He staggered a little and I ran over and held him.

We stumbled to the stairs, Eric carrying Pam and me trying to help out as best I could. I was afraid Eric would take a tumble down the stairs so I walked in front of him and tried to hold him, but he pushed me to the side.

"If I fall, I don`t want you hurt as well."

I listened for sounds and ran down the stairs to assess the situation. I couldn`t see anyone, but I could hear commotion from the basement and from the dining room.

Eric was almost at the bottom of the stairs. He looked pale and I wished I had the strength to unload him of the burden he had on his shoulder, but there was no way I could carry Pam.

I ran to the door and just as I opened it, I saw Barry on the top of the stairs, carrying a man. He ran down the stairs and Eric and he were out the door, each with a person on their shoulders. If it wasn`t such a serious situation, I would have giggled out loud. It looked like the wife-carrying race in Finland I had read about.

But this was a serious situation and we all ran for the woods as fast as we could. Barry ran very fast, but Eric showed the results of the poisoning.

Just as we reached the forest, I heard sirens far away. Barry laid down the man he was carrying, I guessed it was his employer Stan, and Eric did the same. Eric threw himself down and looked like he was going to throw up.

Barry nodded. "I called the police."

From where we were hiding, I could see people coming out of the castle, listening for something. Then they ran back inside and suddenly it was like an ant hill a kid has poked a stick into. People were running in and out, shouting at each other. Some were running and at least four cars got off before a couple of police cars and some ambulances pulled in.

It was like watching a movie, just way more scary, when a police officer shouted in a megaphone.

"Come out with your hands over your heads."

Nothing happened and the police officers walked around, looking nervous while checking their watches. Suddenly I heard more sirens and some huge police vans came and out jumped men dressed in black tight fitting clothes. More ambulances came too.

They ran into the building and after a lot of noise and shouting, they came out with ten men in handcuffs. I shuddered at the thought of where the 31 other were.

Medics ran into the house and I motioned to Barry and Eric that I thought it was safe to get out of the forest. Barry nodded, but Eric had fallen back to sleep, leaned halfway on a tree.

Emotions overwhelmed me. What if he had been seriously poisoned? What if he was dying?

"Eric, you have to wake up," I screamed, almost panicking.

Eric opened his eyes slightly, but then they closed again.

I screamed loudly and when I stopped, I saw Barry running to the ambulances. He found a couple of medics and soon he had three teams with stretchers coming towards us. I almost cried in relief.

Xxxx

Pam and Eric went in different ambulances and I was allowed to ride with Eric. I stressed the fact that I was his wife. I even held out the ring I was carrying.

I was sniffing and holding Eric`s hand when I saw him opening his eyes.

"Barry is gay," was all I managed to say.

"I know that," Eric whispered. "I know that now." And then he was gone.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope you liked this chapter.

And now some self-pimpage. I wrote the one-shot **Carnival is for Scars, Valentine`s for Mending** for the Carnival and Valentine`s contest at the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum and I also posted it here at fanfic. It`s All Human, set in Denmark (of course) and about Doctor Northman and Doctor Stackhouse meeting each other 15 years after a painful event.

**www . fanfiction . net/s/5772291/1/Carnival_is_for_scars_Valentines_for_mending**


	32. Chapter 32

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 32**

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for all your great reviews and PMs. They are even better than Freia Milk Chocolate (which is my sin and joy).

And thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** for reading this, correcting mistakes and pointing out missing suitcases!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_Pam and Eric went in different ambulances and I was allowed to ride with Eric. I stressed the fact that I was his wife. I even held out the ring I was carrying. _

_I was sniffing and holding Eric`s hand when I saw him opening his eyes._

"_Barry is gay," was all I managed to say._

"_I know that," Eric whispered. "I know that now." And then he was gone. _

* * *

**Chapter 32:**

Eric and Pam had their stomach contents pumped when they went to the hospital and after a night on observation, they were both well enough to be released. Sophie Anne was in a poorer state, but was picked up and was halfway back to her British mansion before any of us got to talk to her.

For a brief moment the thought of her having a tube down her throat was amusing, but then I felt sorry for her.

And for Eric and Pam. They looked grey and weak when I picked them up at the hospital and got us all into a taxi for the airport. I had become so used to Eric fixing everything; it was actually nice to be the one in charge for once.

I booked first class tickets and made sure we all got seats on the first row. I didn`t want everyone turning around and staring at us.

And as the PR-professional I was, I had made sure we didn`t have to face the swarm of reporters I imagined would be meeting us at Oslo airport. I had the airport security give us access to the celebrity exit and soon we were in a car back to Oslo. Pam in the front with the driver and Eric and I in the back.

I breathed out. I felt a huge rock falling from my shoulders now that I had Pam and Eric close to Oslo and the safety of their apartments.

"I wonder who did this to you and why?" I asked out in the air. Pam had fallen asleep and Eric looked as if he had bought a ticket for the Slumberland-Express too.

He regained consciousness and looked at me.

"I`m sure we`ll know soon enough. I`m just surprised the Danish police couldn`t get any of the guys they arrested to talk."

I nodded. "I`ll call them when we get home. Maybe they know something now."

Eric straightened up in his seat.

"Sookie," he took my hand. "Thank you for helping Pam and me."

I looked at Eric and saw an emotionless face.

"Yeah, you know…" I started. "I couldn`t just leave you, could I?"

"Yes, you could, but you didn`t," Eric stated.

I looked out the window and Eric continued.

"I don`t want to be arguing with you, Sookie."

I nodded. I didn`t want to argue either, but it seemed inevitable sometimes. "I know," was all I said.

"I`ve been pursuing you ever since you got here and I`m getting tired of it."

I stiffened and looked at the driver.

"Can we continue this when we get home?" I asked.

"We can, but I might as well say what I want to say now. I`m not getting tired of you, but I`m getting tired of taking all the initiatives here. You`ve come to a country where gender equality is highly valued and that`s what I want from us now."

I didn`t get what he was saying.

"You want us to be more equal? How?"

Eric pulled me closer and made sure I couldn`t look away.

"I am not going to pursue you anymore. I will be your friend and I will not endanger your work permit, but I will not take any romantic or sexual initiatives before you do."

"What are you saying? You want to date other women? I`ve never stood in your way." I was getting slightly agitated.

I tried pulling my hand away from his, but he sighed and held on.

"No, I don`t want to date anyone else. But I`m not dating you unless you invite me out. Until then, we are just friends."

The stone that had fallen from my shoulders, had apparently taken up residency in my stomach. I felt bad. I didn`t understand him at all.

"You have to help me out here, Eric. I`m not sure what you mean."

"I mean that I like you, but I need to know that you like me as well and before I do, you will have to initiate everything and anything between us."

"So you want me to ask you out?"

"I want to you to ask me out, kiss me, grope me, throw yourself after me. Take your pick. But you have to be the one doing it."

Eric leaned back again and closed his eyes. I wasn`t sure if he expected me to kiss him or leave him alone. I chose the latter. Taking initiatives was really not something I was used to doing. I was not brought up to it and it took courage I didn`t have.

After some time the silence became awkward even for me.

"I`m not sure I can do that, Eric."

Eric opened his eyes again and looked at me.

"Well, then you and I are in trouble."

Xxxx

When we got back from Denmark, Eric went to his room to sleep and I called the Danish police. They still had no clue as to why we had been attacked. They said the only thing they found in common between all of the men was their connection to the group `41`, named after the address Jagtvej 41. Jaktveien 41 had been a place people hung out and had free concerts until the city of Copenhagen had sold it to a religious group. Apparently the group `41` had wanted to start another place like the one that had been sold, but as far as the Danish police knew, this was their only goal.

"Is this why they were 41 people there?" I asked.

"It could be, but it really doesn`t make any sense. This is a not a violent group. Of course they have their political views, often pretty anarchistic, but they have never been dangerous. And they still haven`t said a word about why they drugged a whole party."

I thanked him and hung up. I went to Eric`s room and knocked quietly on the half-open door. Eric was on his bed, talking to what sounded like his mother.

I went into the living room and waited for him to finish the conversation. When he never came out, I figured a bit of fresh air would do me good. Or maybe I just couldn`t be in the apartment knowing that Eric was possibly waiting for me in his bed.

I walked up Bogstadveien, but hadn`t walked far when I suddenly saw my own face in print. And not just one place. In the newsstand my face was all over the gossip rags. I was sporting a silly smile and Eric was holding me close to him.

Apparently Eric`s and my wedding was hot news and our wedding photos were all over the place. Suddenly the wedding seemed so long ago.

The magazines reported from our wedding whereas the newspapers had the raid in Denmark on the frontpages. Headlines screamed out the news. They all had large pictures of Sophie Anne and smaller of Eric and me.

I bought a couple of the newspapers and magazines and while I was waiting to pay, I noticed Sophie Anne`s picture on two British newspapers as well and decided to pick them up too.

I suddenly felt uncomfortable walking around, feeling as if everyone`s eyes were on me, talking about me, assessing me. I wasn`t a celebrity and I didn`t want to be one. I started to doubt if marrying Eric had been such a grand idea.

Xxxx

Eric and I settled into the apartment and into a normal life again. Eric was his friendly self, but had edited out all sexual innuendos and come-ons from his behavior. It made it very comfortable to be with him, but I soon started to feel something was lacking. I had become so used to Eric wanting me – and showing it – life with him felt empty without it.

It took us a few days to figure out why we had been attacked in Denmark and when we found out, we were so shocked we had problems finding words for it.

We had been discussing if the attack was about theft, blackmail or even rape. Rohypnol is after all nicknamed `rape-drug`. The truth slapped us in the face when a reporter called us for comments on the new website telling the `truth` about Sophie Anne and her companies.

Eric and I went online on each of our laptops and sat next to each other on the couch, staring at each of our screens.

I gaped and Eric groaned. We were both looking at a picture of Sophie Anne, deeply drugged but with open eyes and a silly, drugged grin, half-naked and without the wig I never knew she had been wearing.

She held a huge sign saying: "I use child labor." That was what the picture I was looking at said. On Eric`s laptop the sign said: "I kill animals to wear them." There were plenty of different pictures and we looked through them all. Sophie Anne was pictured with more than ten signs all in all, all of them telling people how she used and abused people and animals.

I looked further and it seemed as if a lot of the guests had had their pictures taken with embarrassing signs. I looked through them all, but there were no pictures of Pam or Eric. Luckily I had come early enough to save them from the degradation. Or maybe there never were any signs made for them?

I couldn`t help wondering what kind of messages Eric would have been holding if they had managed to take his picture. As far as I could assess, he kept his business pretty clean. At least that was what I hoped. I was after all his PR-advisor.

That made me remember my job.

"Eric, you have to call your mother and tell her about this so that she can take steps with her PR-people. And then you will have to give some kind of press statement. "

I hated to think what that statement would sound like. Eric couldn`t very well denounce his own mother, but it would be devastating to be seen as collaborator to someone who used child labor. Even if it was the person who gave birth to you.

When Eric hung up after having talked to his mother, he looked so sad I had to give him a hug. Hugging Eric was very strange because he was brotherly now and never touched me or kissed me. He just leaned in, took my comfort and then pulled back.

xxxx

Eric and I worked together and lived together. We laughed a lot and never quarreled. But something was missing. It wasn`t just the sex because Eric and I hadn`t had sex that often, it was the sexual tension, the knowing that Eric lusted after me.

I never thought I would miss him saying `yield to me`, but I did.

Eric was more quiet than he had been before Denmark and he was on the phone with his mother quite a lot.

"How is she doing?" I asked him one night just after he had talked to her.

"Not good. She won`t go out at all because she thinks everyone will laugh at her. Apparently people seeing a picture with her without her wig was much worse than people knowing she used child labor," Eric said with a bitter voice.

"So who is running the company?"

"She is trying to make me do it." Eric had a grim look on his face.

"Are you going to?"

Eric sighed. "Not if I can help it."

We sat in quiet for some time. Then I took a breath. We needed to talk.

"How are you doing, Eric? I mean, everything with your mother and…" I wanted to say `me`, but I didn`t think I had that much influence on his wellbeing.

Eric tuned his head and his blue eyes scrutinized me.

"To tell you the truth, Sookie. I`ve been better."

His hand was on his thigh and all I wanted to do was to grab it and hold it. And possibly weave a hand into his hair and caress it. I wanted so much to comfort him and all I managed was to sit at my end of the couch and do absolutely nothing.

"I`m so sorry, Eric. If I can help you… do something…" I trailed off.

Eric smiled a sad smile. "I`ve already told you what I want from you."

"You want me to ask you out?"

Eric opened his mouth and closed it again. He shook his head. "You should know the answer to that one."

I huffed and neither of us spoke for a while. I could have asked him out and I probably should have too, but I just couldn`t face the implications of going out with Eric. Which was probably ridiculous since we were married. Doctor Phil would have had a field day with my denying the obvious.

Then Eric squirmed a little.

"Actually I would like you to go out with me tomorrow night," he said.

"You are asking me out now? What about you wanting me to take the initiative?"

"It`s not a date. Someone else wants to meet you and he contacted me to set it up."

"You are setting me up with someone else?" I couldn`t believe what I was hearing.

Eric rolled his eyes at me. "Of course I`m not. I`ll let him tell you why he wanted to see you, but if it`s any consolation: The man is on the wrong side of 80. So no, I`m not sending my wife off with someone else."

The way he said `wife` made my stomach jump a little bit. And I actually think it was from joy. I figured I wanted us back on a good note.

"Now you have me all curious. Who is he and what does he want?"

Eric smirked. "I`m not telling you. That`s my punishment for you thinking I would let you date someone else."

I gave his upper arm a friendly push. "Come on. You can`t expect me to go out with an old guy without knowing who he is."

"Yes, I can. Because I know you are curious enough to do it."

"What if I say no?"

"It will be your loss. This has absolutely nothing to do with me. He just contacted me because I know him vaguely from England."

"England?"

"Yes, my mother lives in England, remember?" Eric teased. "I have been to visit her. I even lived there for a while."

"I know that, but what I was asking was, is the guy English?"

"I`m not telling." Eric giggled like a school girl.

Before I knew what was happening, I threw myself at him and started tickling him. Soon we were play fighting, throwing pillows at each other and using all the dirty tricks in the book. We laughed and screamed and suddenly I was on the floor with Eric on top of me.

We both froze because this was much more than just goofing around. I could feel Eric`s erection against my thigh and my heavy breathing wasn`t just from the fun we had just had.

Eric`s eyes were blazing and I expected him to kiss me. I almost pouted my mouth in anticipation of his warm lips on mine, but nothing happened.

Or something happened and that was Eric getting up and rearranging his clothes.

I sighed when he kissed my forehead and declared he was going to bed.

Alone.

Unless I brought myself to joining him. And I just couldn`t do that. I sat up on the living room floor and let my face rest in my palm.

How had I gotten myself into this mess?

Xxxx

Eric went to work early the next morning and I decided to work out of home. I needed a few hours without looking at Eric`s perfect body and hearing his deep voice. I had to have a break from his charming smile and his seducing eyes.

Eric was getting to me in a way I couldn`t control. And I didn`t know what to do about it.

I had worked for a few hours when the doorbell rang and I went to answer it. Outside was an Asian looking guy; maybe Thai, but when he opened his mouth his Norwegian was without any accent I could detect.

"I am Jonathan. I come from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration."

"Hello," I answered, not sure what he wanted.

"I am here to check up on you."

"What?" I asked.

"We have had a report that you are only married in order to get you a Work Permit, which is against the law. So I am here to check if you are actually living together as a married couple. May I come in?"

I didn`t like this one bit. What was he going to check and how?

"Could this wait? My husband," I stressed the word `husband`, "is at work and I would rather that he was present too."

Jonathan, who apparently didn`t have a last name, didn`t like it one bit, but it seemed he needed my permission to enter, so he nodded. "When will your husband," he said the word `husband` as if it was a poor joke, "come home?"

"This afternoon, I guess." I tried to be vague about it.

"I will return at five, then. Make sure he is home then."

Jonathan turned around and left. As soon as he was gone, I called Eric.

Eric`s reaction was short. "Fuck."

"Why do they want to check up on us? I mean, we are in all the magazines as a happily married couple. One would think they would have plenty of other people to visit before us."

Eric sighed. "Yes, one would think that."

"Are you coming home, then?"

"Of course. And you must move all my clothes and things into your room."

"Why?"

"Because the first thing they check is whether a couple sleeps together. So we will start sharing bedroom. And bed."

My heart pounded. I didn`t want to share beds with Eric and yet when I looked myself in the mirror, I had a huge smile on my face.

I wished I could make up my mind.

* * *

**A/N:**

Oh, don`t go after Sookie now. I know we all would have thrown ourselves after the guy, but that would make a boring story, right? Right??

Free beer (you have to pick it up yourself, though :-D) for those who remember who Jonathan is (and yes, he is Asian/Thai in the books, so I made him that here as well – no offence to anyone).

This chapter is actually what made me start writing this whole story. A colleague of mine married a girl from Kenya and told us all about how the UDI came home to him and, among others, checked if they slept in the same bed. That made my SVM-obsessed brain think "hmmmm, what if Eric and Sookie had to sleep in the same bed because of UDI?" It only took me 32 chapters to get to it…

The group "41" is loosely based on the Danish group "De Autonome". I don`t think they ever drugged a castle full of people, but they do fight imperialism, racism, capitalism and sexism (according to Wikipedia) and they have anarchistic roots. They were thrown out of "Ungdomshuset" (The Youth House) in 2007 because the house was sold to a religious group. Ungdomshuset was situated on Jagtvej 69 and the group fighting for it, was often just referred to as "69". Ungdomshuset being sold caused demonstrations and riots, but De Autonome also use humor in their attempt to "wake up" people – like when they demanded "more opera houses" because they felt sorry for rich people getting so little culture.


	33. Chapter 33

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 33**

**A/N:**

I`m sorry for having kept you waiting for this chapter, but my last week has been one of those you just want to scratch from the calendar. Luckily you gave this story so many great reviews on the last chapter and that really lightened things up. Thank you!

And thank you to **Rascalthemutant** for reading this through and saving me from accidentally using slang that means sperm haha. I look forward to seeing you, Rascal!

I also want to thank **Suki59** for the talk about how American Immigration interview people who are suspected of marrying to get a green card.

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

"_I will return at five, then. Make sure he is home then."_

_Jonathan turned around and left. As soon as he was gone, I called Eric. _

_Eric`s reaction was short. "Fuck."_

"_Why do they want to check up on us? I mean, we are in all the magazines as a happily married couple. One would think they would have plenty of other people to visit before us."_

_Eric sighed. "Yes, one would think that."_

"_Are you coming home, then?"_

"_Of course. And you must move all my clothes and things into your room."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because the first thing they check is whether a couple sleeps together. So we will start sharing bedroom. And bed."_

_My heart pounded. I didn`t want to share beds with Eric and yet when I looked myself in the mirror, I had a huge smile on my face. _

_I wished I could make up my mind._

* * *

**Chapter 33**

I spent an hour moving Eric`s things over to my room and making his room look as if no one had lived there for a long time.

It was weird going through Eric`s clothes. I couldn`t help sniffing his shirts, but they of course didn`t have that very distinct Eric-smell I had come to like so much. They were clean. I found a thick sweater, though, that did and I found myself lying on his bed wrapped in it for five minutes. Or was it 20?

Eric`s drawers also called for my attention. The sock drawer was boring, but the one with his underwear seemed to shout at me. I had always thought that guys were either `boxers` or `briefs`, but Eric had just about any kind of undergarment ever produced. Including a couple of guy-thongs I prayed I would never see him in. A pair of red, shiny briefs had me wondering as they were clearly a couple of sizes too small.

I was dreading emptying his nightstand, worrying I would find porn magazines or something worse, but all I found were condoms and lubricants. Which was embarrassing enough. And then there was a picture of me. It wasn`t a revealing picture one could suspect him of doing things to I didn`t want to think about. It was our wedding photo. Of course, Eric could probably jerk off to that too, but somehow it made me breathless to see our wedding photo in his nightstand drawer. It made me go and smell his sweater one more time. And his pillow-case.

When Eric came home later, his apartment looked like the apartment of a couple of newlyweds who were jumping each other like bunnies. I had thrown Eric`s condoms away as I figured it would send the wrong signals if we were using condoms and not the pill, for instance. In my mind, condoms were for shorter relationships, not marriage.

I realized I knew very little about what kind of contraceptives married couples would use, but I made a deal with myself to get some birth control pills to put in the bathroom. For show, of course. I had no use for birth control as things were now.

"Good afternoon, my dear little wife," Eric said with a smirk and handed me the most beautiful roses in a color I had never seen before. They were pink with a little hint of green in them.

"Thank you," I said with surprise in my voice.

"It is customary for a husband to bring his wife flowers from time to time." Eric sounded as if he was trying to convince me. Did I look that skeptical?

"And the wife would then do what? Kiss her husband?" I teased.

Eric bent down and turned his cheek towards me. "I do think she would," he smiled.

I got on my toes and gave him a kiss. Not on his cheek, but on his mouth. That wiped the smile right off and it was my turn to smirk. I was half expecting him to throw his arms around me and kiss me back, but he didn`t. He straightened himself up and looked at me, face all neutral.

"I do think I will bring you flowers every day," he said almost to himself while walking towards the living room.

Xxxx

Jonathan without a last name came back at five and didn`t even wait for an invitation before he walked in.

His eyes scanned the whole room and then he looked at us.

"No wedding photos?" His voice had an air of accusation and I knew he was looking for things to nail us with.

Apparently Eric drew the same conclusion because he pulled me close to him. I leaned into his embrace, trying to tell myself it was only to convince Jonathan, but knowing that wasn`t the only reason. I felt at home in Eric`s arms and I could have slapped myself for feeling that. When had I grown so comfortable with Eric?

"Our wedding photos are all over the gossip press, but we have been a little too busy to have them framed ourselves."

I looked at Eric with as much lovey-dovey in my eyes as I could muster. "You are of course forgetting the one we have in our bedroom, sugar."

The question in his eyes disappeared when realization hit him. He bent down and said in a lower voice, just loud enough for Jonathan to hear it. "Of course not. But our bedroom is private."

Jonathan smiled a crooked smile. "I`m sorry to tell you that nothing is private when I`m concerned. We need to know everything to make sure you did not marry just to get your wife…" he spat out the word `wife` as if he didn`t believe it for one second. "… a work permit."

Eric looked at Jonathan. "Do you honestly think I would give up my playboy life just to get a work permit for an employee?"

"So you are saying that you love your wife? That the mighty Eric Northman has turned a new leaf and is now a one-woman man?" Jonathan almost laughed at his own joke. He really made me wonder about Norwegian bureaucracy.

"Of course I love my wife. I wouldn`t marry for anything less than love."

He sounded so convincing, my eyes sought out his face to see if I could read anything there. If I could find the lie. The joke. I couldn`t see anything, lies or the truth.

Jonathan looked at me and I knew what was coming. I held my breath.

"And you love your husband, Ms. Stackhouse?" He pronounced the Ms. almost as Miss.

I swallowed as inaudibly as I could and took a little breath. "I don`t really see how this is any of your business, but yes, I do."

My first thought was to pray that he didn`t see through my lie and then it hit me. Was it a lie? I caught a quick breath and, as if Eric could read my mind, he gave me a squeeze. I had my arm around his waist and squeezed him back without really knowing why.

Jonathan looked through our bedroom, checked the toothbrushes lined up next to each other in the bathroom and even lifted the covers to check the sheet. It took me a moment or two to realize what he was looking for and when it hit me, it made me make a mental `eew`.

He then motioned for us to give separate interviews. I had to sit in the bedroom while Jonathan questioned Eric. It took them about half an hour and then it was my turn.

Jonathan looked at me as if I was a liar and a cheater even before I had answered any of his questions.

"How did you meet Eric?" was his first question. I cursed myself for not having gone through possible questions with Eric in advance to make sure we gave the same answers. As it was, I figured I would have to tell him a lie based on the truth and told him about Bill and laid it thick about how I had fallen for Eric when Bill had disappeared. I made our first trip to Copenhagen into the turning point in Eric`s and my relationship. It was technically the first time we had been physical, so it was easier for me to lie about it and add emotions to the situation.

Jonathan asked all kinds of questions about Eric`s and my time together and I kept sticking to the truth, but adding love wherever I could.

"And now I need to see how much you know about Eric. What`s his favorite food?"

I paused. What was Eric`s favorite food? He loved almost everything. "I`m not sure. He likes a lot of different kinds."

Jonathan smiled a sardonic smile. "His answer was `any food he cooked with you`."

My mouth was open. Eric had said that?

"Well, I certainly love cooking with Eric." I quickly turned my surprise into a smile.

"And his favorite sport?"

"Uhm, I`m not sure. Football?"

Jonathan smiled and I knew I had given the wrong answer. What was Eric`s favorite sport?

Jonathan kept testing my knowledge about Eric and then he started asking questions about me.

"I have to see if Eric`s answers about you are correct." He looked at his papers. "When was your last period?"

"My WHAT?"

"Your last period. If you really are lovers, you husband would know when your period was."

"It`s now actually." I said without thinking. Then I started backpedalling. Eric wouldn`t know that since we weren`t lovers."But Eric doesn`t know. It just started today," I lied.

"Eric seems to think it started yesterday," Jonathan looked at me.

I gaped for just a second. Long enough for Jonathan to notice. "Of course. It was yesterday," I said.

"And what do you use for contraceptives?"

I gasped again. I was like a fish on shore.

"I really can`t see how this is any of your business."

"If you are lovers you are either using contraceptives or not, but you would both give me the same answer."

I thought for a moment. Then I figured I would have to stick to the truth. "Condoms," I whispered and blushed.

"This was what Eric said, but I found no condoms in your bedroom."

I blushed even harder. "We used them all. We need to buy more. Or start something else. We are discussing it."

Jonathan nodded and made a few notes while I looked around to find a hole to hide myself in.

xxxx

After another half hour of heavy questioning, Eric was called back to the living room. He sat down on the couch next to me and took my hand in my lap. His thumb caressed my palm and I couldn`t help leaning my head on his shoulder. I felt as if I had messed up and ruined everything and just wanted to apologize for all the trouble I had made him go through.

Jonathan looked at his papers and then up.

"It seems as if you know everything there is to know about your wife." He looked at Eric. Then his eyes turned to me. "But you don`t know that much about your husband, do you?" I stiffened. "This is actually the opposite of what we usually meet and I will have to read your answers very carefully before I give my verdict."

He got up and walked towards the door. He put on his coat and boots and looked at us, standing there arm in arm.

"You will hear from us."

"Give my regards to Mr. de Castro," Eric said when Jonathan was half way out the door. I had no idea who Mr. de Castro was, but Jonathan apparently did. He looked shocked to his core.

"I am sure I don`t know who you mean," he said with indignation in his voice.

And with that he was gone.

xxxx

Eric and I stayed in each other`s arms for a few minutes until I started feeling uncomfortable. Or maybe I was feeling too comfortable with his arm around my shoulder. I walked back into the living room and sat on the couch, half expecting, half hoping Eric would sit down next to me. To my surprise, he chose the chair.

"I`m sorry," I said with a sigh.

Eric looked genuinely surprised. "For what?"

"For putting you through this, for not giving better answers, for…." I wanted to say something about the awkwardness between us, but couldn`t.

Eric looked at me, his eyes scrutinizing me, almost reading my mind.

"This is nothing, Sookie." He made a gesture towards the door Jonathan had walked out of.

We sat there for a while. Then I remembered something.

"Who is Mr. de Castro?"

Eric got up and walked towards the kitchen and I came with him.

"He is my uncle. My father`s sister`s husband."

I went through everything Eric had told me about his family. "He is the husband she found in Spain?"

"Yeah." Eric sighed and retrieved meat and vegetables from the fridge. I remembered what Jonathan had said about Eric enjoying cooking with me, so I started to wash the vegetables. A little smile showed on Eric`s lips.

Eric never elaborated on his uncle and I never asked him. We cooked a great meal and ate it while making small talk. We laughed a lot, as we always did, and had a great evening.

We played a card game that included hitting the table all the time and were enjoying ourselves, but with my first yawn, reality hit us. I walked towards my bedroom. Our bedroom. Eric followed me.

"How do we do this, Eric?" I asked.

He looked at me. "I said I wasn`t going to initiate anything before you did and I won`t. But I still think we should sleep in the same bed. Jonathan might come knocking in the middle of the night or early in the morning to see if he could catch us sleeping in different beds."

I blushed slightly at the thought of Eric in my bed. "I can handle sleeping with you," I said, trying to convince myself as much as Eric. When I saw Eric`s smirk, I rolled my eyes, but I couldn`t help laughing. "The operative word here being `sleeping`," I continued.

"Yeah right," Eric winked and went to the bathroom. I quickly changed into my pajamas while he was there, but when he opened the door, I saw that he had other ideas of what was appropriate sleep attire when in bed with a woman you weren`t supposed to be romantically involved with. He was naked.

"Eric," I screamed while closing my eyes and holding my hand over them. Of course the short glimpse I got of his body was forever tattooed into my brain.

"What?" He asked with innocence in his voice.

"You can`t sleep naked."

"I always sleep naked."

"You can`t sleep naked next to me," I sighed, still with my eyes closed.

"Why? Are you afraid you won`t be able to control yourself?" I could hear his smirk. I could even hear his eyebrows waggling at me.

"Put on pajamas, Eric. I`m serious," I yelled.

"No."

"What?" I screamed.

"No. I hate sleeping in pajamas. They are for kids." He paused. "And for prude Americans, apparently."

"I`m not a prude," I huffed. "But you can`t expect me to sleep next to you when you are wearing nothing."

"Of course I can. Most wives do around here."

"Eric," I said in the sternest voice I could muster. "I`m not your wife. Not like that." I was getting uncomfortable with the situation. "At least put on some underwear."

I could hear movement and a drawer being pulled out.

"You can open your eyes now, Sookie."

I peeked out between my fingers and found Eric standing there in a pair of boxer briefs that didn`t hide very much, but it was still better than him being naked.

"Thank you," I said and went to brush my teeth.

Xxxx

Eric was under the covers reading a book when I returned to the bedroom. I walked over to the other side and got in under the covers with him. I didn`t really know what to do. Should I give him a goodnight kiss, a hug?

I turned my head to him and he put his book down.

"Thank you for doing all this for me, Eric," I said.

"You`re welcome, but I`m doing it for me," he answered without explaining.

I took his hand under the cover and gave it a squeeze.

"Goodnight," I said and then I turned off the light on my night-stand. A few minutes later Eric did the same thing.

We were on our backs, my hand still in his and both awake for quite some time. Then I heard Eric turning and I opened my eyes. In the moonlight I could see that Eric was now on his side, looking at me.

"I`m sorry," he suddenly said.

"For what?" I asked.

"For teasing you like that."

I let out a little air. "Thank you. It`s just that… I can`t… I`m not…" I wasn`t sure what to say.

"I know," he said and then he pulled me over onto my side, spooning me close enough for me to have his strong arms around me, but loose enough for me not to feel his strong chest and other body parts. I caught myself wishing he had pulled me closer.

Xxxx

I thought I would never manage to fall asleep, but it turned out I slept like a baby in Eric`s arms. When I woke up the next morning, we were face to face and our legs were tangled in each other`s. Eric had one arm draped over my waist and the other one was between us, holding my hand.

His breath was warm and sweet coming out of his mouth in little snores. I couldn`t help touching his full lips with the tip of my fingers.

Eric stopped snoring and opened his eyes.

"Good morning, my dear wife," he whispered.

I smiled at him. I had thought I would feel uncomfortable sleeping with Eric without `sleeping` with him, but I felt great. I felt safe and warm and a little fuzzy inside. I thought about kissing him for a minute or two, but said no to myself. I enjoyed just looking at him, having him near me. I didn`t want to ruin it.

"Good morning, my dear husband."

We looked at each other for a while, just smiling and enjoying the moment.

"I actually liked waking up with you," I said after a while.

"You sound surprised?" Eric smiled.

"Well, yes. I mean, I`m not in the habit of sleeping with people… men. I was pretty sure I wouldn`t get a minute`s sleep."

"Most people… women…" Eric teased, "don`t sleep when they sleep with me." His smile was now the smirk I knew so well.

I pushed him and he rolled over on his back. "Eric!" I half yelled, half laughed. "You bragging about all your former lovers is not winning you any medals here."

Eric turned his head and his eyes had that special light they got when he was about to say or do something way out of line, but then it disappeared. His smile was gone too.

"No, it isn`t, is it?" was all he said.

Xxxx

It was busy at work. Christmas was getting closer and apparently all of Norway closed down for a week or two because of the holiday. And the last month before Christmas people were taking half days off to buy presents or attend Christmas parties. Christmas was a huge thing around here.

This was why I had almost forgotten about the strange date Eric wanted me to go on that night. It wasn`t until Eric popped by my office to remind me of it, I started to think about who he wanted me to meet.

"You have to tell me who this guy is, Eric."

Eric shook his head. "I don`t know much about him. I mean, I know he`s a British businessman and that his reputations is…" Eric`s pause made me curious. "Well, to put it like this; normally I would never have wanted you to meet him, but he did claim to have met your grandmother when she was younger and that he had information about her that he wanted you to have. And as much as I know your grandmother meant to you, I couldn`t say no to that."

"Gran? What could he possibly know about Gran?"

"He wanted to tell you directly."

"But why did he come to you and not to me?"

Eric looked uncomfortable. "My mother has had some business dealings with him so he knew me somewhat. I guess he wanted an introduction to you."

"But you don`t like him?"

"No, I don`t. Rumors has it he`s linked with the British mafia and I thought my mother should have stayed away from him.

"The British mafia? They have mafia in Britain?" I couldn`t help giggling. I mean, I thought the mafia was Italian or Russian – maybe Japanese. But British? What did they do to make people talk? Threaten them with British food?

Xxxx

I went home before Eric to get ready. I was wearing my favorite color, blue, and was just adding a little mascara when Eric knocked on the bathroom door.

"Sookie?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"Are you ready?"

I opened the door. "Yeah. I`m ready."

Eric had changed into a suit and he took my breath away just by standing there. If there had been a Norwegian GQ, he would have been on every cover of it.

He smiled at me. "I`ll be close by. Don`t worry." And with that we walked down to his car.

It was only about 10 minute`s drive but we were in a part of Oslo I didn't know too well. It was definitely out of the main shopping area, with which I was fairly familiar.

The businesses were small and pricey ... what retailers called `boutiques`. We pulled into a group of such shops. The restaurant was called Feinschmecker and a sign on the door said it had a star in the Michelin guide. I had never eaten at so many fancy restaurants as after I had met Eric.

I looked down at my clothes, feeling suddenly uneasy.

"Don't worry, you're beautiful," Eric said quietly. He leaned over to unbuckle my seat belt (to my astonishment), and as he straightened he kissed me on the mouth. His bright blue eyes blazed out of his white face. He looked as if a whole story was on the tip of his tongue. But then he swallowed it back and unfolded himself from the car to walk around to my side to open the door for me.

"I thought you weren`t going to kiss me before I kissed you?" I asked him when I got out of the car.

"You needed it," was his short answer.

From his tension I realized that some major event was coming at me fast, and I began to be afraid. Eric took my hand as we walked across to the restaurant, and he ran his thumb absently across my palm. I was surprised to find out there was a direct line from my palm to my, my, hootchie.

We stepped into the foyer, where there was a little podium with a woman looking at us. The woman standing was beautiful and black, her hair shaved very close to her skull. She wore a draped dress of orange and brown and the highest heels I had ever seen. She might as well have been wearing toe shoes. She smiled brilliantly at Eric and had the sense to give me a share of that smile.

"A party of two?" she said.

"We're meeting someone," Eric said.

"Oh, the gentleman..."

"Yes."

"Right this way, please." Her smile replaced by a look almost of envy, she turned and walked gracefully into the depths of the restaurant. Eric gestured for me to follow her. The interior was fairly dark, and candles flickered on the tables, which were covered with snowy white cloths and elaborately folded napkins.

My eyes were on the hostess's back, so when she came to a halt, I didn't immediately recognize that she'd stopped at the table where we were to sit. She stepped aside. Seated facing me was a man with white hair, blue eyes and a huge smile.

The hostess spun on her high heels, touched the back of the chair to the man's right to indicate I should sit there, and told us our server would be with us. The man rose to pull out my chair and hold it for me. I glanced back at Eric. He gave me a reassuring nod. I slipped in front of the chair and the man pushed it forward with perfect timing. He sat down on the other side of the table.

Eric didn't sit. I wanted him to explain what was happening, but he didn't speak. He looked almost sad.

"You must be Sookie Stackhouse?" the man asked. He looked at Eric. "Or is it Northman?"

"Nope, Stackhouse is just fine." Eric`s reluctance made my voice just a little edgier and sharper than planned.

The man smiled. "The same spirit as your grandmother." His English sounded as if he was royal. Or at least aristocracy.

"Who are you?"

"Please forgive me. My name is Niall Brigant." He nodded slightly. I was sure if I had given him my hand, he would have kissed it.

I caught Eric`s eye and he made a signal to say he was leaving. I nodded and then I was alone with a strange white-haired man. I looked at the man opposite me.

"No, I mean, who are you? Why did you want to see me?"

The man was quiet for some time then his eyes bore into mine.

"I`m your grandfather."

"What? No. I mean, I know who both my grandfathers are."

"Your grandmother`s husband was sterile. They couldn`t have any children and I guess your grandmother was set on having some so when I…"

I hissed. "You be respectful of my grandmother now."

He smiled. "Of course. My apologies. Adele Stackhouse was a fine woman. Respectable. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and I had to work very hard to charm her. I think it was the grief of not having any children that made her look my way at all."

"What were you doing in Bon Temps in the first place?"

"I was, well, I had to lay low for a while so I changed my identity and lived in various places in your beautiful country. Bon Temps soon became my favorite place of hiding."

"Because of my grandmother?"

"Adele stole my heart."

"What about my grandfather?"

"He was away a lot. He was a travelling salesman."

"And you made her cheat on him for years?"

"I asked her to marry me. To elope. But she declined. She loved your grandfather even if I thought I had a little part of her heart too. And then of course your father and aunt came along and she wanted them to grow up in Bon Temps. With your grandfather as their father. When it was safe for me to go home, I did."

"You left your children behind?"

"I figured they were better off with your grandmother and grandfather. I did try to send her some money, though, but it was always returned to me."

"I can imagine." I snorted.

We sat quietly for a while and ate a lovely meal I couldn`t really taste. This had been overwhelming news. When the waitress got the empty plates, I answered no to her question about dessert. I wanted to go home.

The man who apparently was my paternal grandfather got up when I got up. I looked at him.

"Why did you want to see me in the first place?"

This was the first time I had seen him look less than cool and collected. He coughed slightly.

"You are the only relative I have."

I shook my head. "What does that mean? I can`t suddenly be your granddaughter."

He took my hand. "I know that, but at least I have someone who can inherit from me now."

"What?" I yanked my hand back. "If my grandmother didn`t want your money, then neither do I."

I walked out of the restaurant and hoped it would take him a long time to pay the bill. When I came outside, Eric was waiting by his car. He must have been freezing standing out here in the blistering cold.

I jumped into the car without saying anything. Eric got in too and looked at me.

"Just drive," I said. To Eric`s credit, he was great at taking orders.

Xxxx

When we were home, I sat down on the couch, not saying a word, just looking straight ahead. Eric asked me if I wanted anything to eat or drink, but I shook my head. How could I eat or drink now? The anchor in my life, the only person I had ever trusted, my sweet old grandmother had not been who I thought she had been.

Jason had always been an unfaithful man-whore who screwed everyone in a skirt – and everyone out of it too. And now it had turned out that he got his genes from Gran? I wanted to throw up.

"I`m going to bed," I finally said, hoping sleep would drown my pain.

"Good idea." Eric was right behind me.

We got ready for bed without saying anything and soon we were in the same position we had fallen asleep in the night before. It brought me consolation to have Eric`s arm around me, but I also welcomed the fact that I could trust that he wouldn`t be trying any funny business. Sex was the last thing I wanted right now. Actually, I was pretty sure I never wanted sex ever again.

My head was spinning from the news. My sweet, old grandmother, the person I had held highest in my life, the one person I had trusted and who had taught me right from wrong, had cheated on my grandfather for years? With a mobster? I couldn`t believe it. I thought I had known my grandmother and now I was told she was a completely different person than I had thought she was. I felt as if the whole world had turned on me. That I could never trust anyone when I couldn`t even trust Gran.

I heard Eric`s breath even out and I let my tears flow freely. After a while I started crying for real, sobbing and sniffing. Suddenly I felt a pair of strong hands turning me around and drying my tears away.

"Shhh, Sookie. It will be ok."

"No, it won`t," I sobbed. "My grandmother was not who I thought she was." And then I proceeded to tell Eric about what Niall Brigant had revealed.

"It doesn`t mean anything, Sookie. Your grandfather is still your grandfather and your grandmother was just being human. And Niall Brigant does not have the right to interfere in your life. I`m just mad at myself for letting him talk to you."

"It doesn`t change the facts, Eric." And then I started to cry even more. "It`s just too much. I can`t handle anymore of this." I sniffed loudly. "I lived a pretty boring life back home, but all this…." I broke down and cried even more.

"Your life with Bill," Eric said and I couldn`t help giggling through the tears.

"Yeah, my boring life with Bill."I laughed and I cried.

But Eric didn`t laugh and it made me open my eyes and look at him. I could see his face in the moon light. His jaw was tight and his lips narrow. And his eyes looked sad.

"What`s wrong?"

"I shouldn`t have brought you away from the life you were living back in Louisiana. It was wrong of me."

"Eric, this is not your fault." I had stopped crying.

Eric looked at me. "Maybe not this, but all the other shit that has happened to you. I should never have tricked you into coming here."

I looked at him and suddenly my hand was in his hair.

"Then how would I have met you?" I asked and I realized I meant it. And that made me cry again.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope you liked this chapter. It was a bit longer than usual, but I suppose you don`t mind that :-D

Just to let you know (a lot of people have asked me about it): All my stories are also posted at **www . alexanderskarsgardlibrary . com / forum** and I`m working on putting them all on the new fanfic site **www. alexanderskarsgardlibrary . com / fanfic** too.

If you are a writer yourself, writing Alexander Skarsgård related fanfic (TB/SVM, Generation Kill etc) you are more than welcome to post your fics there as well as here.

But just because I`m co-posting elsewhere, which I`ve been doing all the time, does not mean I`m leaving this place. I love it here – various technical glitches and other stuff apart.


	34. Chapter 34

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 34**

**A/N**

Thank you so much for all your great reviews and comments after the last chapter. Quite a few of you offered to take Sookie`s place in Eric`s bed. I wonder what you think of her, and him, after this chapter.

I also want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for reading this chapter and for correcting the mistakes. I wish I could send her some Eric for her troubles.

If you want to know more about Eric`s thoughts around the pledge, I would recommend that you read **Peppermintyrose**`s new fic **Fealty. **I keep learning so many things from her fics :-D

* * *

**From the previous chapter**:

"_Your life with Bill," Eric said and I couldn`t help giggling through the tears._

"_Yeah, my boring life with Bill."I laughed and I cried. _

_But Eric didn`t laugh and it made me open my eyes and look at him. I could see his face in the moon light. His jaw was tight and his lips narrow. And his eyes looked sad._

"_What`s wrong?"_

"_I shouldn`t have brought you away from the life you were living back in Louisiana. It was wrong of me." _

"_Eric, this is not your fault." I had stopped crying. _

_Eric looked at me. "Maybe not this, but all the other shit that has happened to you. I should never have tricked you into coming here."_

_I looked at him and suddenly my hand was in his hair._

"_Then how would I have met you?" I asked and I realized I meant it. And that made me cry again._

* * *

**Chapter 34:**

Eric held me close and whispered soothing words into my hair and that actually helped. My tears stopped and my despair lessened.

I had been through a lot since I had landed at the airport north of Oslo, thinking I was going to live with my boyfriend Bill and build a life with him.

I had been attacked, verbally and physically, I had been raped by the very same boyfriend I had come to this country for, I had seen and done things I never thought I would see or do and now the rock I had always had in my life, even after she was dead, Gran, was not the person I had thought she had been.

I turned my head in Eric`s arms so that I could see his face. His eyes looked worried, but there was something else there as well. Something warm and sweet and … for lack of better word … something trustworthy.

Eric had probably screwed with half the women of Norway, and I meant that in both ways, but he had never done anything to harm me. On the contrary. He had been there for me. At first it was to get me between his sheets and him between my legs, but now?

Oh, I didn`t doubt that he still wanted a passport to get between my legs, but he had said the initiative was mine and he had meant it. I smiled to myself. Eric wasn`t stupid. Sometimes, if you want to catch a rabbit, you have to let it come to you instead of chasing it. I didn`t like my own little rabbit analogy, but it was the truth. I would have kept running if he had kept pushing.

Before I knew what was happening, I placed my lips on his. My heart beat as if it was jumping out of my chest. I wasn`t used to initiating kisses. And I wasn`t sure I was doing the right thing. I only knew I was doing the only thing that felt right at the moment.

I pulled back to look at him. He lay very still as if he was afraid of breaking a spell. Then I kissed him again and this time I didn`t just place my lips on his. I opened them and let my tongue lick his warm and full lower lip. And then the upper.

Eric let out a warm breath that made me shiver slightly. His tongue came out to meet mine and the tips of our tongues swirled around each other. Then I darted my tongue into his mouth and started exploring. His white, strong teeth, his tongue, his lips.

Eric moaned slightly and it made me press my body closer to his as if I couldn`t bear to have any space between us. My thigh suddenly came to life and placed itself on Eric`s hip and I grounded myself into him.

I gasped at it and pulled back slightly, blushing.

Eric`s hand landed on my butt, pulling me back. "Don`t," he whispered and we were a mass of grinding, moaning and hands roaming over each other`s bodies.

This felt so right, it felt as if this was how we were supposed to be. It felt perfect. At least up until Eric`s hand went under the elastic band of my panties and I remembered. I was having my period.

I grabbed his wrist. "I can`t, Eric."

Eric pulled back. All of Eric was suddenly away from me, not one part of him touching me. It felt like a bucket of cold water had hit me and I gasped.

I saw his face, hard and disappointed and I had to touch it. My hand landed on his cheek and I turned him to look at me.

"No, Eric. It`s not that I can`t mentally or that I don`t want to. I`m not pushing you away. But I`m having …" How was I going to explain? It had been embarrassment enough to tell a government official about Aunt Flo coming to visit, but Eric? In bed, wanting to make love to him? I swallowed. "You know. You told Jonathan yourself that you knew I was having…"

Eric`s eyes were on me, softer than before. "Your period," he finished.

"Yes." I sighed in relief. I wasn`t used to talking about these things with anybody. Bill had definitely not wanted to know so I had just told him `stomach aches` when he wanted sex and I couldn`t. Bill would probably have fainted if I had told him that I was having my period just as he never wanted to see any traces of my pads or tampons.

"And so?" Eric had come closer to me again and now his eyes were full of mischief. Full of Eric.

"And so we can`t…" I trailed off again, but this time I was mad at myself for not being able to talk about it. What was wrong with me? Why couldn`t I just say `Sorry, Eric. I lust for you, but I`m bleeding like a bull in a bullring so we`ll just have to wait a couple of days before we fuck each other into oblivion`? I giggled a little at my own thought.

Eric`s eyebrow was raised. "You want to have sex, but think you can`t because you are bleeding?" His voice held so much surprise and wonder. "But why? Sex can be a wonderful thing at that time."

I blushed. How could I explain something that was so deeply rooted in me? It was like explaining why I had to go to the bathroom from time to time. And what I was doing there.

"I`m sorry, Eric. I just can`t." I touched his chest to make sure he knew I wasn`t rejecting him completely. "Not now."

"We can do other things." Eric whispered, while pulling slightly back. He didn`t want to pressure me, but he couldn`t let it go entirely either.

I thought I understood what he meant so I let my hand trail down his stomach and follow his soft, blond hair to the broad elastic band of his boxer briefs, but just when I was about to slip my fingers under, his hand stopped me.

"No." His voice was husky. "I don`t want to be the only one taking pleasure tonight."

"There is pleasure in giving, too," I smiled at him.

"Not the kind of pleasure I want you to have." Eric closed his eyes and took a deep breath as to pull himself together and then he opened them again. "Not now. I want the first sex you initiate to be something pleasurable for you. If you don`t want me between your legs now, I can live with that. But I don`t want half sex. I want the whole deal. And I can wait if I have to."

I sighed. I had cursed my period many times, but that had usually been because of the pain or me bleeding through the pads. Now I just cursed it. I really wanted sex with Eric and I wasn`t sure I could wait. But I was sure I couldn`t have sex now. So there I was.

I crawled into his embrace instead. "Then just hold me," I said. "My period won`t last forever."

And he held me.

Xxxx

It seemed like my period was lasting forever this time, but that was probably just my libido being annoyed with it.

Me having my period seemed to be a good thing too. Eric and I were closer in other ways the next day and I enjoyed it. We had sort of turned a new leaf without even discussing it. Even if we hadn`t actually had sex on my initiative, Eric was much more at ease around me.

He wasn`t back to his old `yield to me` self, which was a relief, but he wasn`t holding back as he had been lately.

Or actually he was. He was holding back verbally. He didn`t insinuate or say anything with double meaning. But he hugged me, caressed me, let me sit in his arms when we were watching television and gave me the odd kiss that made me feel so good.

Eric wasn`t feeling all that good himself, though. Not because I had denied him sex. Sex between Eric and me had been good both at the cabin and on our wedding night, but not so good it left him sulking if he didn`t get it. No, Eric was worried about his mother. As much of a bitch Sophie-Anne Northman-Ravenscroft was, she was still his mother.

I sympathized with Eric even if I didn`t hold any warm feelings for Sophie-Anne. I had lost my parents early in my life. Eric had lost his father, but he never really had a mother, it seemed. Sometimes I gave him an extra hug just from knowing that.

Sophie-Anne had apparently taken a turn for the worse and was now in some kind of fancy mental institution where she was psychoanalyzed and medicated.

Xxxx

Pam came to Eric`s house two nights after Eric and I had become a more normal couple. Or at least, that was what I saw us as when I thought about it. Which was as rarely as possible. I didn`t really want to think about Eric and me as a couple because I was still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I had only ever defined myself as one half of a couple with Bill and he had betrayed me with another woman and had ended up raping me.

I knew Eric was not Bill, but for the time being I tried to think as little as possible about us and just enjoyed what we had, for however long we had it.

Eric wasn`t home when Pam came, but it seemed she wanted to talk to me.

"How is my favorite sister-in-law?" she smiled.

"I thought I was your only sister-in-law?" I said in a voice loaded with sarcasm.

"And thus my favorite." Pam showed me all her teeth. Either she had been lucky with her DNA or the Ravenscroft family had a good dentist. I guessed a combination since Eric had a smile that could rival hers.

"I`m good, I guess."

"Well, you look newlywed, but not so newly-fucked."

I blushed. "Well, thank you very much for that assessment, Pam. You can keep the rest of them to yourself." I wasn`t angry with Pam, but sometimes you just had to draw the line for her. And then redraw it. And possibly draw it again.

"Come on, Sooks. I`m worried about you guys. You`ve played cat and mouse for so long, I`m not even sure who`s the cat and who`s the mouse anymore."

"Well, worry no more," I said in an exaggerated dramatic way. And then I went to the kitchen to make coffee for us.

Pam followed me. "What do you mean `worry no more`?" Pam eyed me from hair to foot. "You haven`t fucked, I can tell." I didn`t want to know how she could tell. "Have you talked? Did a miracle happen and you and my brother actually talked?"

I turned around and faced her. "We are working on things, Pam. Please just leave it at that."

Pam held up her hands. "Ok, ok, I know when Auntie Pam`s advice is not wanted." She took her hands down again. "So what is it that I hear; the most talked-about newlyweds in the country are accused by government officials of not being married for the right reasons?"

The coffee was done so I poured her a cup. Eric had baked a cake and I cut a piece of that for her too. We sat down at the kitchen table.

"It`s just not fair that my brother got all the domestic skills in the family," she said after having tasted the cake and rolled her eyes while moaning.

"Yeah, I used to think I was a pretty good cook, but Eric is phenomenal," I agreed.

"You know that cooking and baking is how Eric relaxes. It levels him when the world is a little too crazy."

I shook my head. I had always thought Eric cooked because he liked to cook. End of story.

"He has cooked an awful lot for you, hasn`t he?" Pam`s eyes were barely visible between the cup she had against her mouth and her long, blond bangs, but they were definitely on me.

I nodded. I wasn`t sure I liked where she was going.

"The world has been a little crazy for Eric now that you are in it."

"That`s hardly my fault." I went straight into defensive mode.

Pam smiled. "I never said it was. It`s been crazy for Eric because he had to get to know a different side of him. And for the record, I don`t doubt that it has been crazy for you as well." Pam`s face got serious again. "And now… our mother."

"Yeah. How is she doing now?"

"Not good. You know that this leaves Eric with a very difficult decision?"

"Which decision is that?"

"If he should take over or let his uncle finally get his way."

"I thought the uncle was bad news for the company?"

"He is. He is terrible news. But so is Eric. The company would drain him. Eric is the kind of guy who should run a fun little computer game company. A company based on skills and innovation. Northman Enterprises is based on exploitation and backstabbing."

"He could change it?" I asked.

Pam let out a bitter laughter.

"No, the company would definitely change him before he changed the company."

"Then why not let the uncle run it? I mean, if it`s already bad, how can it get worse?"

"Oh, there are degrees of bad. And Eric has a conscience. He would have a hard time watching his uncle use even more child labor, start even more sweatshops or pollute the earth even more."

I could see how this was a Catch-22 for Eric and I felt for him. I also thought about the stupid, Danish group who had pushed Sophie-Anne into insanity. They wanted to protest against her way of running her business and now they were paving the way for someone even worse.

"So what is Eric going to do?"

"My guess is that Eric won`t have much choice. If his uncle is already trying to throw you out of the country in fear of you having Eric`s offspring, then he must be planning a take-over already."

Xxxx

We didn`t have to wait long for Pam`s predictions to come true.

The next evening, when Eric and I were sitting close to one another on the couch, the doorbell rang. Eric got up to answer, but all I heard from the hallway was Eric shouting "SHIT!"

I ran over to him, trying to understand what had angered him. Or whom. I got the answer immediately.

"May I come in?" asked the charming voice through the closed door.

Eric seemed to gather himself, and after one long look at me, he relaxed. Eric turned to me, kissed me on the lips very lightly, and looked at my face for a long moment.

"It`ll be ok," Eric said, and I understood he wasn't really talking to me but to himself.

And then he opened the door.

Since the lights were still off in the hallway and the security light was on outside, from inside the house we could see pretty well. The man standing by himself on the stairs was not particularly tall, but he was a striking man. He was wearing a business suit under his woolen winter coat. His hair was short and curly, and though the light wasn't good for making such a determination, I thought it was black. He stood with an attitude, like a model.

Eric was pretty much blocking the doorway, so that was all I could tell. It seemed tacky to go to the window and stare.

"Eric Northman," the man said. "I haven't seen you in a few years."

"Victor Madden. You've been working hard for your father," Eric said neutrally.

"Yes, business has been booming. There are some things I want to discuss with you—rather urgent things, I'm afraid. May I come in?"

Eric stood back from the doorway and looked at me. "Sookie," he said, "I have to invite him in." Eric said it as if he was inviting in an ax murderer because the blade was on his throat. And maybe it was, metaphorically speaking.

Eric had told me about Victor Madden. Victor Madden was Eric`s cousin, son of Felipe de Castro. Him coming here was definitely not good news.

Victor Madden walked in the door. He was a very attractive man, if not exactly handsome. His eyes were big and brown, and his jaw was decided. He had beautiful teeth displayed in a jaw-cracking smile. He looked at me very carefully.

"Reports of your attractions were not exaggerated," he said, which took me a minute to decipher. I was too nervous to be at my most intelligent.

"Uh-huh," I said, unimpressed.

"I'm delighted to finally meet you," he said, bowing.

He smiled his best smile and took my hand and kissed it. He winked too and the winking was definitely from the Northman side of his genepool. Then I realized that he was flirting with me and like Eric, he was probably used to girls falling for him immediately. Well, I didn`t fall for Victor`s charms. After I'd let him establish that, I moved back to give him room.

"Please have a seat," I said, though I sounded about as welcoming as a church lady forced to entertain an atheist. We all moved to the couch and the chairs.

I asked Victor Madden and Eric if they would like some coffee. They both looked surprised and only Victor accepted. I went to the kitchen to get him a cup and was pleased Eric had just brewed a fresh pot so I wasn`t away from the living room too long. Eric was on the couch and Victor had taken the easy chair. I sat down next to Eric, my hands clenched in my lap. There was a long silence while Victor selected his opening line.

"Your mother can`t run the business, Eric. We have taken over," he said.

Eric's head jerked. "How many of the board members agree?"

"Enough." Victor was still smiling.

I pressed my lips together hard so no sound would escape. I took Eric`s hand and he held on to it as if it was his salvation.

"What of the employees?" Eric asked.

"We`ll have to do a clean-up there, of course."

Eric sighed, but it wasn`t a sigh of surrender. More a sigh of pain.

"Viking Games?" I didn`t know Viking Games was even connected to Northman Enterprises and I felt a chill run down my spine. Eric could lose his company?

There was a long silence while Victor took a swallow of the coffee. The tension grew.

Then he said, "Eric, your company is yours, of course. We won`t interfere."

I bent my head to hide an involuntary smile and Eric looked pleased, just for a split second.

"And why now? Why not give my mother a chance to get better?"

"Because you got married and we were told you didn`t use any contraception." My gasp made Victor look at me. He nodded. "I`m sorry. I didn`t mean to make you uncomfortable." Then he turned his head back to Eric. "You know how hard it would be for us to get into power if you actually had a kid. So it was really now or never."

"So you figured you would just use my mother`s illness against her?"

Victor smiled. "Yes, that was exactly what we figured. And there isn`t much you can do about it. I mean, it`s not like you`re dying to take over anyway."

Eric's eyes were wide and fixed on the furniture. They blazed blue in the long silence and his shoulders seemed to sink in. He was giving up and panic started to tingle in my neck. Then it hit me. I had a brand new connected grandfather. Yeah, I was desperate.

I looked at Eric. "Should I call my grandfather?"

Eric stared at me, but Victor laughed.

"I hate to remind you that all your grandparents are dead." When he saw my confusion, he continued. "Yes, of course we had your family checked. One brother, no grandfathers."

Eric`s eyes were still on me and his hand was in mine. "Don`t make any calls, Sookie. I can live with this."

I wasn`t so sure when I saw the look on his face, but then suddenly he straightened up as if someone had pulled a string connected to his neck. He even managed a little smile.

"I accept this, Victor," he said and his voice sounded calm.

My heart bled for Eric and I didn`t want Victor close to him anymore. I got up and walked towards the door.

"It seems you got what you came for, Victor," I said, making it very clear I was throwing him out.

"Indeed it seems," Victor smiled. He smiled a smile I would have loved to wipe off his face, but at least he took my hint and walked towards the door. A minute later he was outside and I could close the door after him.

I went back to the living room, only to find it empty, so I trudged back to our bedroom and pushed the door open. Eric was sitting on our bed, his face buried in his hands. He looked up when I entered.

I went over to stand between his legs end kissed the top of his head.

"I`m so sorry, Eric."

Eric leaned into my chest and I felt his hands on my butt and my inner emotions changed very rapidly from feeling sorry for Eric to something else. I was suddenly reminded of the fact that I didn`t have my period anymore. I wasn`t sure this was the time for sex, not after everything that had happened with Victor, so I went down on my knees and looked up into Eric`s beautiful eyes.

I stretched up and kissed him. I kissed his chin, his cheeks, his nose and his mouth. I leaned into his neck.

"Let me help you forget, Eric. Let me take away your pain for a little while," I whispered.

I definitely didn`t get the reaction I had expected. I would have thought that Eric would grope me and kiss me. That he would be all over me. Or at least that he would take what I was about to offer.

Instead he got up very abruptly and stared at me.

"I don`t want pity-sex from you!"

* * *

**A/N:**

So what did you think of the two love birds after this chapter?

And it`s official: I won the Valentine`s contest at the Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum with my little one-shot **Carnival is for Scars, Valentine`s for Mending**. Yay :-D

* * *

If you read the chapter of **Dead with the Viking** I posted earlier today, then you will have read this before, if not, please read:

I am not entirely sure when I will be able to post the next chapter. If I get well and get my doctor`s approval tomorrow, I`ll be on a flight to Kenya on Wednesday and will be gone for over a week. And after that my lovely beta, **Rascalthemutant**, will be going to Scandinavia (and I get to see her face to face for the first time – yay) and I do not have the confidence to post un-betaed.

**Buy me**

But you will be able to buy me. Yes, you heard me – I put myself up for sale. Not my stupid, sick body, but my crazy head and my fast keyboard fingers. Along with a lot of great SVM-writers I have volunteered my writing skills for the Support Stacie Auctions. Stacie is a fellow fanfic writer with cancer and no health insurance and the money we raise in the auction, will help pay for her treatments. All the SVM-writers have different offers – some even offer banners with their stories.

Since I`m no techie, I can only offer my writing skills, but they will be all yours if you win me. You can decide a one-shot you want me to write or you can ask me for alternative point of views to one of my stories. Or maybe you think there were some missing pages in a story – something you want more of. You can decide. All human or vampires and telepaths, it`s your choice. I only ask to be allowed to write Eric and Sookie as the main couple (if there is to be a couple) and that I don`t have to glorify rape or something like that. The story will be all yours, but I hope you will let me post it here on fanfic and on the Alexander Skarsgård Library as well.

So enough sales pitch. Go buy yourself a writer and support Stacie :-D. The auction is from the 26th to the 29th of March and the address is this: **www . supportstacie . com/phpBB3/viewforum . php?f=24**


	35. Chapter 35

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 35**

**A/N:**

I have left you waiting way too long for this chapter. I have received polite hints and hard kicks in the butt and it has helped. I`ve been grateful for every hint and butt-kick because it meant that you guys missed the story. That warms my heart.

My excuses? Well, I haven`t been all lazy. I finished **Dead with the Vikings** in record speed because I promised it for the Support Stacie Auction bidders and then I wrote two stories for the same auction. **My Ten Dates with Sookie** – a story about partyboy-Eric and student-Sookie - for **Miss Construed** and **WAGs and Wolves** – a missing chapter of my story **Dead on a Football Field** – for **E-F-M**. Both are very generous ladies who gave a substantial sum to help Stacie with her medical bills.

Then, when the dust had settled, **Miss Construed** and I started talking about the lack of stories that didn`t have a Sookie-Eric or Sookie-Bill coupling (she is writing one of the few – the fantastic **Heat is in the Tools –** with Sookie and Alcide) and she sort of mentioned that Sookie and Sigebert would make an impossible couple to write. That was a dare if I ever saw one and I had to try. The result: my one-shot **Sigebert and Wybert** (yes, it`s a threesome with Sookie as the lucky ham in the sandwich).

And now – finally finally finally – I`m back with Work Permit. It`s so great to return to it. Especially now that Charlaine Harris has been so gracious as to write us yet another book. And what a book. I LOVE it!

As always – there would have been no story if not for the fantastic **Rascalthemutant** who reads everything I write and makes sure it`s readable for the rest of you.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_I wasn`t so sure when I saw the look on his face, but then suddenly he straightened up as if someone had pulled a string connected to his neck. He even managed a little smile._

"_I accept this, Victor," he said and his voice sounded calm. _

_My heart bled for Eric and I didn`t want Victor close to him anymore. I got up and walked towards the door._

"_It seems you got what you came for, Victor," I said, making it very clear I was throwing him out._

"_Indeed it seems," Victor smiled. He smiled a smile I would have loved to wipe off his face, but at least he took my hint and walked towards the door. A minute later he was outside and I could close the door after him. _

_I went back to the living room, only to find it empty, so I trudged back to our bedroom and pushed the door open. Eric was sitting on our bed, his face buried in his hands. He looked up when I entered. _

_I went over to stand between his legs end kissed the top of his head._

"_I`m so sorry, Eric."_

_Eric leaned into my chest and I felt his hands on my butt and my inner emotions changed very rapidly from feeling sorry for Eric to something else. I was suddenly reminded of the fact that I didn`t have my period anymore. I wasn`t sure this was the time for sex, not after everything that had happened with Victor, so I went down on my knees and looked up into Eric`s beautiful eyes. _

_I stretched up and kissed him. I kissed his chin, his cheeks, his nose and his mouth. I leaned into his neck._

"_Let me help you forget, Eric. Let me take away your pain for a little while," I whispered. _

_I definitely didn`t get the reaction I had expected. I would have thought that Eric would grope me and kiss me. That he would be all over me. Or at least that he would take what I was about to offer._

_Instead he got up very abruptly and stared at me._

"_I don`t want pity-sex from you!"_

* * *

**Chapter 35**

I gasped, completely mortified. Then anger rolled over me.

"I`m not offering pity-sex, Eric. I thought we were planning on having … when… " I stopped, not wanting to go through the whole debate about sex and having your monthly. That was not a subject I wanted to discuss with him.

I got up on my feet and was going to walk away when his strong hands came around my waist and held me back.

"When what?" he asked.

I pulled away and he let me.

"Never mind," I answered and went to the bathroom. I stared in the mirror and wondered how I had gotten into this mess. Suddenly I was dead tired. Too much had happened the last weeks and it had taken its toll on me.

Or maybe being rejected by Eric had taken out the last ounce of energy I had left. I sat down on the floor and silent tears fell down my cheeks. I realized what had made me stay in Norway. It wasn`t the job, though I certainly liked it. It wasn`t the country and it certainly wasn`t the weather. It was Eric.

But apparently Eric and I weren`t meant to be together.

I washed my face and walked out into the bedroom again where I found Eric sitting in the exact same position as I had left him. He looked up when I entered.

"What were you going to say, Sookie?" he asked.

I couldn`t face him and turned towards the door.

"Never mind, Eric. I understand that you are upset and I don`t want to impose on you. Just go to sleep and I`ll watch a little television and sleep in the other bedroom."

I had started walking out the room while I spoke and didn`t see his reaction. He never said anything to stop me and a treacherous tear made me evacuate the bedroom faster than I had planned. If he didn`t want to have sex with me then I was pretty sure he didn`t want to see me cry.

Xxxx

I watched television for a couple of hours, one ridiculous program after the other. I probably dosed off too because I couldn`t remember half of what I had watched.

Finally I got up, turned off the television and went to the bedroom I had stayed in when I came to live with Eric. The one I had stopped using when…. I suddenly didn`t want to go in there. I didn`t want to sleep in the bed I had been raped in. The bed where Bill had….

But I had to. Bill`s shadow wasn`t going to ruin anything anymore. I didn`t want to add my grief over Bill to all the other thoughts I had running through my brain so I took a deep breath and walked in.

My nightgown was in the other room and since I was wearing a button down shirt I didn`t want to sleep in, I had to sleep in my panties. _Eric would be thrilled_, was my first thought, but that thought stung in my heart so I quickly discarded it.

I went to the bathroom and found a new toothbrush and some toothpaste in the cupboard, brushed my teeth and used the toilet.

Then I walked back to the dark bedroom and crawled under the covers. I was totally worn out and would have passed out if I hadn`t heard a voice next to me.

"Sookie?"

Eric sounded tired, but I was suddenly wide awake.

"Eric?" I shrieked.

My heart jumped and I swallowed. I knew it was Eric, but it still felt terrible to be surprised by a man in this bed. A lot of memories came back and they weren`t good ones.

His hand found mine. "I`m so sorry. I didn`t want to startle you. It was just…. I remembered why you had moved out of this bedroom and figured it was better for me to sleep here and you could go back… I wanted to tell you but you were asleep on the couch so I figured I could tell you when you came in here. Only, I didn`t hear you when you came in. I must have fallen asleep. I`m so sorry."

I tried to calm myself down and took a deep breath.

"It`s ok, Eric," I said. "It`s ok." I was probably trying to convince myself as much as him.

Eric sat up and turned on the lamp on the bedside table.

I suddenly realized my state of undress and quickly grabbed the covers and pulled them to my chest, covering myself as best as I could. Eric noticed and shook his head slightly.

"You don`t have to do that, Sookie. I`ve seen you naked, remember? And I hope to see you naked again. And soon."

"Excuse me?" I asked, trying to keep my voice firm. Unfortunately I blushed too.

"You know I want you," he sighed. "I just want to know that you want me too." He looked at me. "That you want me for me, not to cheer me up."

I rolled my eyes. "You really think I`m the kind of girl who has sex with people to cheer them up?"

His hand fell on the small of my back. My naked back. I shivered slightly from the touch.

"You do have a big heart," he half-teased.

I made a sound of disagreement. "I`ll show you just how big my heart his." Without any warning, my pillow landed in his face and before he could react, I pulled it back and smacked him with it again.

"Oh, you`ll pay for that," he yelled and suddenly I was flat on my back, Eric hovering over me while ten fingers tickled me all the places I was ticklish. I screamed and tried to get away from him, not really noticing how the covers fell off the bed.

What I did feel was Eric`s mouth on my breast and him sucking on my nipple. His hands stopped tickling and started stroking my stomach and chest instead.

I grabbed his hair and weaved my fingers into it while moaning. I had gone from hell to heaven in a matter of minutes and my heart was pounding at the thought. Maybe Eric and I _were_ meant to be together after all?

My body knew the answer to that question because before I could plan my next move, my legs had moved apart and were nudging Eric into moving in between them.

That was when my calves sent my brain a note about Eric`s lack of pants and my thighs made me notice, with joy I might add, that he wasn`t wearing any underwear either.

"Oh Eric," I gasped and pulled him closer.

My hands went down to my panties and I started pulling them down. I wanted him and I wanted him now. Eric was apparently as eager as I was and helped me pull them down my legs and threw them on the floor.

In no time he was back between my legs. I grabbed his length and helped him in. I couldn`t wait.

I wasn`t sure what the rush was, but it felt as if I would explode if I didn`t feel him inside me instantly. Luckily Eric didn`t exactly mind my rush. He groaned loudly when I grabbed him and his whole body shivered when he pushed himself inside me.

"This feels so good," Eric whispered and I couldn`t agree more.

He held me close, his arm around my shoulders. I held him close, my legs around his hips. From hip to neck, you couldn`t push a piece of paper between us.

Eric was kissing and nibbling my neck and I couldn`t help biting Eric`s shoulder, making him groan every time I did it.

Eric and I were frantic and messy, we moved with each other in an intense dance that went faster and faster until I felt the familiar tingle starting in my scalp and working its way through my body.

"Oh Eric," I shouted when I came and he made strange noises into my neck while spasms rolled through him in his orgasm.

It was a spectacular feeling that our two bodies could give each other so much pleasure. I smiled in pure happiness and kissed Eric`s neck in gratitude and awe.

He lifted his head and turned it slightly and I had his beautiful blue eyes looking into mine, the air between us thick with emotions.

"I love you, Sookie," he suddenly said and then he kissed me, thus blocking me from answering, which was a good thing because I was taken by surprise and didn`t really know what to reply.

Our whole evening had been one big roller coaster. Felipe de Castro, Eric rejecting me and now this.

I kissed Eric back though I hardly had any energy left.

We were still for several minutes, just kissing each other lightly and enjoying each other`s bodies so close to one another. We were both hot and sweaty and totally spent.

Then Eric pulled out of me and that was when it hit us both simultaneously. We had forgotten one important detail in our hurry to make love.

"Shit, Sookie. I`m so sorry," Eric said. "I never meant to forget the condom. I never do that. I just…." He started.

I shook my head.

"I should be safe from pregnancy" I started. "I mean, I just had my… well, I shouldn`t really ovulate just yet." I blushed.

"And I should be safe from diseases. I got tested this summer and you have been my only lover since then."

"Well, I should hope so," I teased. But then I remembered Bill. I looked away "I can`t be sure, though." I continued. "Bill…" And that was all I could say before my vocal cords gave in.

Eric pulled me into his arms and held me close.

"I`m sure we`re fine," he said. "We can`t have bad luck now. That would be unfair."

I smiled at his statement. "I don`t think that`s how it works. But just to be on the safe side I will get an appointment with the doctor to get tested." I said. "And I will get a prescription for some birth control too," I said in a low voice, not really believing I was discussing this with Eric.

Apparently he saw that more as a declaration of love than as an embarrassing subject. He hugged me and kissed me and I had to remind him of the fact that I had thrown out all the condoms to stop him from instigating another lovemaking session.

Well, he did instigate one, but it involved his mouth and me - and condoms were not needed. I did put condoms on my mental grocery list, though. I both hoped and assumed we would be needing them plenty of times before birth control pills were safe.

Xxxxx

Christmas was getting closer and one Saturday Eric went to the attic and came down with a huge box that said `_jul_`. He pulled out a four-armed candle stick and told me that tomorrow was the first Sunday in advent and that we were going to light the first candle.

"We light a candle. We light it for happiness. We light it for love and for everyone present," he explained. When I looked at him with huge question signs in my eyes, he continued. "It rhymes in Norwegian."

Then he started putting up little figures of `_nisser`. _Men and women with red clothes and a red Santa-hat on their heads.

"Are they Santa`s family?" I asked.

"No, these are _nisser_ who live in the stables and barns and cause trouble if they are not fed with porridge on Christmas Eve."

"Oh, really? You don`t have a stable," I laughed.

Eric shrugged. "They can live in the attic too."

He also hung up electric stars in the windows, glowing white into the dark night. There were still plenty of things left in the box when he put it away again, but he explained it was ornaments for the Christmas tree which wasn`t supposed to be bought or decorated until the day before Christmas.

"What do you want for Christmas?" I asked.

Eric kissed me. "I`ve already gotten my Christmas present. I got it when I picked you up at the airport this summer and I`m getting it every day, it seems." He smiled.

I didn`t really know what to say since I didn`t have his way with words, so I just smiled back. Well, I stuck my tongue out and then I smiled back.

Xxxx

It turned out that it wasn`t just the advent lights that marked the beginning of Christmas in Norway. On December 1st Eric had hung up a huge calendar with 24 little presents hanging on it. All the presents were numbered from 1 to 24.

"This is a Christmas calendar," Eric explained. "You can open a present every day until Christmas. They are supposed to be small presents. Actually, small and practical presents. Today you will find a present that is for both you and me." His eyebrows started waggling and I knew something was up.

I went over and grabbed the present with the number 1 on it. I unwrapped and noticed Eric having trouble finding a neutral expression. He was very smug.

"I suppose this is not a partridge in a pear tree," I laughed.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"You know the song?" I started singing `On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me` and that made Eric hug me. It could have been to stop me from singing. I can dance, but I can`t hold a tone.

"If a true love sends partridges on the first day of Christmas then you should definitely have gotten one," he smiled and kissed me. "I was slightly less romantic when I picked out a little gift for you. Just don`t get offended."

That made me wonder even more what he had bought. I ripped up the paper and smiled when I saw what he had bought. A condom. A gift-wrapped condom. I looked at it and then at Eric.

"Are all the presents like this?" I asked, giggling at the thought.

"I`m not saying," he replied.

I started laughing. "This is better than a partridge in a pear tree, that`s for sure."

It turned out we had much more use for a condom than for a bird in a tree.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope this chapter made up for the lack of updating.

**Safirerose, Miss Construed** and **yours truly** have made a little challenge for you called **When Two Wrongs make a Right **to give us a wider variety of pairings than the usual ones: pick two names out of the hat **Rascalthemutant** has made for you here: _http : // alexanderskarsgardlibrary . com / gettingtoknowyou . html_ and write a story with your two characters. Give us a hint when you post it and we will add it to the great list here: _http : // www . fanfiction . net / community / When_Two_Wrongs_Make_a_Right/81488/99/1/1/_

The list already includes improbable pairings like Pam and Andy (by **Miral Monkeygirl**) and Octavia and Barry (by **Suki59**). Now we are waiting for your story!


	36. Chapter 36

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 36**

**A/N:**

I was so amazed to see the amount of readers who had actually stuck with this story during its hibernation – and all the new ones who came along. Thank you for all your sweet reviews!

And thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant **who betaed this story. Hugs and kisses!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

"_Are all the presents like this?" I asked, giggling at the thought. _

"_I`m not saying," he replied. _

_I started laughing. "This is better than a partridge in a pear tree, that`s for sure." _

_It turned out we had much more use for a condom than for a bird in a tree. _

* * *

**Chapter 36**

On the second of December I didn`t get two turtle doves. What I did get was a ginger-snap heart. Or at least I thought it was ginger-snap.

"No, it`s a peppercake," Eric corrected me.

"There`s pepper in it?" I asked and looked at the beautiful heart with suspicion.

"Yes, there is. I should know since I baked it," he smiled.

And then he went to the stereo and put on a children`s CD called the `The Animals in the Hakkebakke Forest` and had me listen to the song about the little rabbit trying to learn how to bake peppercakes. I didn`t get the lyrics at first. I had, after all, only learned Norwegian for half a year and Eric and I spoke just as much English as Norwegian with each other. Eric made me listen to the song until I understood how the rabbit had mistaken the amount of sugar (one kilo) for the amount of pepper (one teaspoon) and how he had made the mean old fox eat them.

Eric was almost jumping up and down in excitement over the song and one of the reasons it took me ages to understand the lyrics was because Eric was singing them too.

But we ended up singing them together and then I shared my heart with him. My peppercake heart.

Eric had been very inventive and had wrapped up all kinds of sweet and heartwarming little presents for me and I looked forward to getting up every morning. Sometimes the presents were more racy than sweet, but I loved those too.

I tried to give him at least a few presents, like when I made a big sign with the number 6 on it for December 6 and wore it on a string around my neck, knowing that 6 and sex were pronounced the same way in Norwegian. It took Eric a few minutes to understand the meaning of my present, but then he unwrapped it and made sure we both enjoyed it.

On December 12th I reused the sign and made another one, laying the two numbers on our bed, one next to the other.

"Can you add?" I asked innocently and he could. Then he turned the last number upside down and that was the kind of sex we were having that morning.

Eric and I had fun and we had sex. We also had a lot of great conversations, good food and some cozy evenings on the couch, just holding hands.

xxxxx

One evening when we were holding hands on the couch and were staring into the fireplace, a deep dark secret suddenly found its way through my mouth. Before I knew what I was doing, I was telling Eric about how Uncle Bartlett had… well, what Uncle Bartlett had done to me when I was a kid.

I tried to stop myself. Tried to make myself shut up. But the words just poured out ofmy mouth.

I couldn`t really look at Eric while I was telling my story and was glad we were sitting next to each other. He was still holding my hand, squeezing it a little too hard sometimes, and it felt as if he was holding his breath too.

I had finally finished my story, managing somehow not to cry during my tale, but now I was empty. Empty and scared. I didn`t know what reaction I feared the most from Eric.

Disgust? No. Though I had always imagined that people would be disgusted with me if they knew, I was somehow sure that would not be Eric`s reaction.

Anger? Yes, he might be angry, but what good would that do anyone? Uncle Bartlett had been dead for years. I didn`t want anyone`s anger. I had made the mistake of telling Bill about Uncle Bartlett and he had been furious. He had almost stalked out to dig up Uncle Bartlett, call him to life just so that he could kill him again. I hadn`t needed Bill`s anger and it had torn us apart.

Pity? Yes, pity would probably be the worst feeling Eric could show me. I was a successful woman and not one to be pitied. Pity would mean that Uncle Bartlett also took away everything I had worked so hard for these last many years – just as he took away my childhood. I could never have survived it if Eric had shown me pity. Or rather, I would survive, but _we_ wouldn`t.

I was almost afraid of moving, of breathing, when Eric unclutched his hand from mine and pulled it around my shoulders.

"I have a story too," he said in a voice I couldn`t recognize. I tried to gaze up at him, but he held me so close I couldn`t move my head enough to see his face.

"Please, Sookie, I need to tell you this without having your eyes on me." He paused and sighed. "It started when I was 14 and my parents sent me on vacation to my godfather in Italy."

I feared what I was going to hear, but I leaned into his chest to motion him to go on.

"My godfather is a very rich and important man and my parents were proud when he agreed to hold me at my baptism. They were even prouder when he said he would take me under his wings and teach me what I needed to know." Eric paused again and swallowed. "Little did they know what he intended on teaching me," he said almost to himself.

"He taught me all he knew. He had been in the business world for ages, and he was a fighter, as I am, so we had that in common. But he liked men, boys really, and that took some getting used to. I had never done that. I hadn`t had sex at all, actually."

"You were only 14," I interrupted with a whisper.

"Yes, yes, of course. I was big for my age, but I was still a boy," he answered as if he needed to remind himself of that fact. "It wasn`t that I had anything against gay people, but I had always known I never swung that way. I mean…." he trailed off. "My godfather had ways to ensure that I enjoyed it … eventually."

"You had to comply," I said.

"Oh, he was much stronger . . . though I was a bigger man than him—taller, longer arms. He had done this so many times, he'd lost count. And of course, he was my godfather. An important man. I had to obey." Eric shrugged.

I almost got angry and I almost pitied Eric, but then I remembered what he needed, what we both needed.

"Even if you ended up enjoying it, it was still not right. He still committed a crime against you. You know that, right?"

Eric sighed.

"Yes, my head knows that," he said. "But my heart is being a bit stubborn there."

I leaned into him.

"I know the feeling," I whispered.

We sat in quiet for a while.

"I`ve never told anyone about this," Eric suddenly said.

"Well, I told Bill and nothing good came out of that." My voice was bitter.

"So really, you told nobody too."

The thought worked its way through my brain and then I started laughing. Yes, Bill was `nobody`.

It felt good laughing just now. Not that what we had spoken of was a laughing matter, but it was a relief to hear both Eric`s and my own laughter mix with each other and turn into a mutual laughter.

"I did tell Gran too," I remembered. "After a while I told Gran and she made sure we never saw Uncle Bartlett again. Jason was so angry with me and Gran, but she would never tell him why Uncle Bartlett was suddenly persona non grata."

"Pam was always so jealous that I was going to Rome and she wasn`t. She was only a kid, but she knew all about Italian designers and expensive handbags. She was so sure I was keeping my godfather to myself and in some way I was. Even if he preferred boys I didn`t want to take the chance with him getting his paws on my little sister. So I told my parents he didn`t want her to come."

I had to smile at little spoiled Pam who wanted to go to Rome to buy handbags, but it also saddened me how Eric only got jealousy back for trying to protect her.

"You never told Pam about this?" I asked.

"No, I bottled it up and hid it deep inside me. This was something that happened in Rome. Not something I wanted to drag home with me. And eventually I got too old for his attentions and I turned my own attentions on girls. Many girls."

I could feel Eric`s smile against my hair, but it wasn`t a smug smile.

"I know what it feels like to hide things deep inside," I said, not wanting to begin a discussion about his extravagant love-life.

Then I leaned up and he loosened his grip on me. I gave him a tentative kiss.

"I can imagine you do," Eric answered and kissed me back.

We stayed up all night and talked. Not about Uncle Bartlett or the Roman Godfather whom I later learned was called Appius Livius Ocella.

We talked about dreams, about our lives, about who we were and what we liked.

The night turned out to be a painful and wonderful night all in one.

xxxxx

Christmas was getting closer, day by day, present by present. I discussed with myself if I should go back to celebrate Christmas with my family, but since Jason was the only one I had left and he had found some new floozy and didn`t want his sister to ruin it by pointing out the fact that she was married and had kids, I discarded the thought.

Eric and Pam were planning a Christmas celebration in his house and the way they assumed I was part of the guest list warmed my heart. They treated me as a member of their family and I enjoyed the sentiment.

I was of course married to Eric and he had told me he loved me, but it still warmed my heart that they considered me family. That Eric considered me his wife. Because when we got married, it hadn`t been for love and happy ever after. It had been for my work permit.

December got darker and darker, but also lighter and lighter. All the snow was sparkling from the millions of lights in the streets, trees and windows of the houses. For the first time since Gran died I had a true Christmas feeling.

On the morning of the 24th I slept in. I had had way too much gløgg the night before after Eric and I had decorated the Christmas tree. Who would have thought that a hot, sweet and spicy drink could contain that much alcohol?

The 24th was THE day apparently. It was on the night of the 24th Christmas presents were exchanged here in Norway, not on the morning of the 25th.

"But only to the good little girls," Eric had smiled at me. "So tell me, Sookie, have you been naughty or nice this year?"

I had batted my eyelashes and smiled. "Nice, of course," I had answered him in my sweetest voice.

That had made Eric grab me and carry me to bed.

"We`ll just have to make up for that, then," he had laughed and I had definitely shown him how I could also be naughty. Very naughty.

On the morning of the 24th I was stretching in bed, trying to get my very well-used body to cooperate, when I felt something next to me in bed.

I opened my eyes and they caught a little box with a huge 24-sign on it. My heart started racing as that little box had a very definite shape. I forgot all about the ring I was already carrying because all I could think of was the box and the ring that would be in it.

I took a deep breath and tried to convince myself that anything could be in that box. Maybe this was a clever way to disguise yet another condom? And why would Eric give me a ring when we had been engaged and married already?

With shaky hands I ripped off the paper covering the box and held my breath when I opened it.

First I was confused. There was no ring there. No jewelry at all, as a matter of fact, in spite of the box coming from the classiest jeweler`s in Oslo.

Then I saw the folded paper, took it out and started opening it. My heart began leaping again when I saw Eric`s handwriting, which was silly. Who else would have written me a message in that box?

I let my hand slide over the paper before I started reading Eric`s message.

_Dear Sookie!_

_I love you very much and am grateful to call you my wife. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Therefore I ask you to be my real wife, my wife of heart, my wife to love and honor until death do us part. _

_I do not wish to force this on you, which is why I`m asking you in a letter and leaving you alone to decide._

_Should you want us to have a real marriage I ask you to give me the box you are holding in your hand. If you, on the other hand, wish for us to stay married for the work permit and nothing else, you just leave the box in the bedroom and we will speak no more of it. _

_I will be waiting in the living room. _

_Yours, if you will have me_

_E_

If I had been sleepy and hung over, any sleep deprivation or headache disappeared while I read Eric`s letter. I read it a couple of times, trying to make sure I hadn`t misunderstood what he had written.

Then I got up, took a shower, dried my hair, made little waves in it and put on a little make up. I then got dressed in a nice blue winter dress and panty hose and went to the living room – carrying the box.

I tried to look my best for this important moment. I wanted to tell Eric that he was indeed my husband of heart and that I wanted for him to continue to be so. I got slightly emotional when I pushed down the door handle, looking forward to throwing myself at Eric and telling him what he wanted to hear.

With a huge smile and eyes half-closed to blink away unwanted tears of joy, I opened the door.

And gasped.

Eric was not alone. Victor was there as well.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope this chapter wasn`t too emotional for you?

If you are wondering about this Hakkebakke-thing – this is the song Eric is teaching poor Sookie: **www . youtube . com/watch?v=9YRTUaeYXyQ** The little film also shows you the peppercakes (pepper-cookies would be a more correct translation, but they are called pepperkaker in Norwegian and peppercakes just sounded so close). The whole song is actually the recipe for the peppercakes.


	37. Chapter 37

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 37**

**A/N: **

I love all the great reviews, PMs and the subscriptions/favorites this story is getting. Thank you so much for taking the time and making me happy

I also want to thank the great **Rascalthemutan**t who is as busy as me watching the World Cup in South Africa, but who still takes the time to read and correct this story *kisses*

But the person I want to thank the most is **Charlaine Harris** for writing the great books this story is based on. She has brought me so many hours of emotional rollercoaster rides and I loved every minute. The last story I read was **Dancers in the Dark** about Layla and Sean, the dancers at Rhodes. I can really recommend that one!

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_I tried to look my best for this important moment. I wanted to tell Eric that he was indeed my husband of heart and that I wanted for him to continue to be so. I got slightly emotional when I pushed down the door handle, looking forward to throwing myself at Eric and telling him what he wanted to hear._

_With a huge smile and eyes half-closed to blink away unwanted tears of joy, I opened the door._

_And gasped._

_Eric was not alone. Victor was there as well._

* * *

**Chapter 37:**

"If it isn`t the beautiful Miss Stackhouse," Victor nodded at me.

"I do believe she stopped being `miss` when she married me," Eric said in a dry tone.

I was so stumped over Victor being there I had almost forgotten what I was about to do. Why I had fixed my hair and put on a nice dress. It certainly wasn`t because of Victor Madden. I wondered if I should wait for Victor to leave, but then I figured it wouldn`t hurt for him to see that Eric and I actually had feelings for each other.

I walked over to Eric and zoned out the other guy in the room.

"I want to give you this, Eric," I said and handed over the box I had found on our bed, my eyes saying everything my mouth couldn`t with the company we had.

Eric went from worried, annoyed and tired to happy in a nanosecond.

"Oh Sookie," Eric said. Then he got up, dug deep in his pants pocket and pulled a ring out of it. I was too busy looking at his face, which was so filled with love my heart swelled, to look at the ring, but I felt it being placed on my finger.

Next thing I knew I had Eric`s warm lips on mine. It was a very special moment and I was almost moved to tears when Victor had to be the scratch in the record.

"I see you are having a special moment here," he said with sarcasm in his voice. "Well, who am I to put a damper on your love? Eric, I think we were finished with our little discussion so I`ll be on my way. Merry Christmas."

And with that he was out the door.

"What did he want, Eric?" I asked. "Does your cousin usually visit you on Christmas morning?"

Eric hugged me. "No, this was a first but never mind. It`s Christmas and my family is the last thing I want to think about." Eric laughed at his own joke, Christmas being the season for family bliss and all. "You and Pam excluded, of course."

I looked at the ring and smiled. It was so beautiful. A design I`d never seen before.

"So now we`re married for real now, huh?" I said, leaning into his embrace.

"For better or worse."

Eric bent down and gave me a kiss. I weaved my fingers into his hair and held his head close to mine while deepening the kiss.

"Let`s make it better," I whispered and had to smile at Eric`s groan.

Xxxx

"What happened here?" was the first thing Pam said when she came in the door, loaded with presents.

I looked around, not understanding why she asked. Eric was as mystified as me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Hah, don`t act all innocent with Auntie Pam here. There is something up with you two." She studied us closer. Then she smiled. "Shit. You two stubborn mules have finally realized you are a perfect match," she stated. "I never thought I`d see the day."

I blushed like a high school girl caught by my father while kissing my boyfriend on the porch.

"Why do you think that?" I tried.

We went into the living room where Pam bent down and pushed her presents under the tree with the ones Eric and I had already laid there. Then she got up, turned around and sniffed the room.

"People`s exhibit A. The smell."

"The smell?" I asked in a worried tone. Yes, Eric and I had been going at it like bunnies, but surely it didn`t smell like sex now? Not in the living room at least.

"Yes, the turkey should be almost finished by now, but judging from the smell, you two have been so busy humping each other, I doubt we`ll have our Christmas dinner on this side of midnight."

I laughed nervously.

"Really Pam," Eric started. "I can`t see how this is any of your business."

"Of course it`s my business to rub my brother`s nose in the fact that he actually found love when he always claimed love was not for him."

"Pam!" Eric`s tone was stern now.

"Yeah, yeah, big brother. You two look cute together. All blushes and little touches. It makes my old heart turn from stone to mush." Pam smiled her 1000 watt smile. "Sure you don`t have a cute sister I could send for, Sookie?"

"Nope. Just a brother and I don`t think he`s the settling kind."

"Oh, they are the best. Who would want to settle with one guy anyway?" Pam asked, but when she saw how Eric pulled me closer, she continued. "Present company excluded, of course."

"Are you finished ranting now, Pam?" Eric asked.

"Hah, in your dreams. But if you have some gløgg for me, you might shut me up for a few minutes."

Eric almost ran to the kitchen to make gløgg for us all. He stayed in there for longer than it took chopping almonds, so I figured he was working on the dinner too.

Pam took my hand and led me to the couch and sat us down next to each other.

"So tell me all about loverboy – also known as my brother – and your sweet self."

Xxxx

A few hours later we were sitting at a table filled with nisser, dark red hearts and little silver stars spread all over the deep red tablecloth.

Wine was in our glasses and Eric was balancing a huge turkey over to the table. It smelled so good I almost drowned in my own mouth water.

Eric had explained that most Norwegians ate rotten fish, pork fat, salted sheep ribs or even sheep heads on Christmas eve, and even though I was pretty sure he was exaggerating, I secretly thanked all dinner gods for making Eric`s table one of the 10% in Norway that had turkey for Christmas.

The smell from the golden turkey was amazing. It was filled with a mushroom stuffing and was served with red cabbage, caramelized potatoes and a rich cream sauce.

I could almost hear angels sing when I chewed on the first bite. I looked at Eric and wondered why it had taken me so long to actually be his girlfriend, no, his wife. His cooking alone should have had me running after him. Afterwards we had a dessert made from rice pudding, whipped cream, and almonds with hot cherry sauce on it.

I was so full I almost couldn`t walk over to the couch where I threw myself down. There was no way I could sit up. Eric came over, lifted my head up and replaced it in his lap. He stroked my hair and looked down at me.

"Had enough?" he smiled.

I blushed. I had eaten for six which wasn`t exactly ladylike.

"Your own fault," I groaned. "Your food is too good."

He laughed. "I love seeing you enjoy my food, Sookie. Don`t be embarrassed about it. I would have hated it if you only wanted a little lettuce when I worked hard in the kitchen."

"I`m sure you`ll regret it when I`m 300 pounds and going up," I muttered.

He bent down and kissed me. "We`ll just have to exercise a little more together."

"We can`t run in the snow, Eric, and running is my only exercise."

Pam sighed. "You are so naïve it`s almost sweet, Sookie. I`m pretty sure my sex-mad brother had other kinds of exercise in mind, but if we could change the subject and possibly get to the unwrapping of presents. I don`t want to rip my ears off but I will have to if the only alternative is listening to more of your smooching."

"You`re just jealous, Pam," Eric stated.

"You are quite right, brother. Thank you so much for rubbing my nose in it," Pam stuck out her tongue. "But I would still like to open my presents."

"Then go right ahead and be Santa and hand out whatever is under the tree." Eric smiled at his sister.

"Oh gee, thank you," Pam said while sitting herself down on the floor and scooting over to the tree where she picked the largest present there. As luck would have it, it was from Eric to her.

I had to stifle a giggle when she ripped off the paper faster than any 4-year-old could have managed. Suddenly she flew over and gave Eric a hug while screaming. I had to sit up because the sight was so extraordinary. Composed and cool Pam jumping up and down because of a Christmas present consisting of shoes of some famous international brand I never caught the name of, though she was yelling it in a decibel close to that of a fog horn.

"You got me both the pairs I wanted," was one of the many sentences she raved while pulling off the shoes she was already wearing and trying on the ones Eric had bought her.

Eric was beaming with pride and it warmed my heart to see it. In the half-year I had known Eric, I had learned that the term `poor little rich kid` definitely applied to him and was happy that for all the people who had let him down throughout the years, Pam and he had a connection that was invaluable.

Not that one should ever feel sorry for Eric. He had created his own destiny and seemed happy with his accomplishments. And rightfully so.

We opened a few more presents. Jason surprised me twice. First by sending me a present at all and secondly by giving me a present from the heart. He had found an old picture of Gran which he had put in a beautiful frame.

I couldn`t stop smiling at the picture. Even though I had recently learned that Gran wasn`t who I thought she was, she had been the most important person in my life and I would always love her for it. Gran had been to me what Pam was to Eric. Well, not exactly like Pam, but I figured both were the only positive constant in our lives.

Pam found my present to Eric and I glanced at him and tried to suppress the butterflies in my stomach.

"If this is a paperweight, I`ll have to be honest and say that it won`t do its job," Eric joked while lifting the very light box covered with Christmas wrapping.

"Ha ha," I mock-laughed. "It`s a paper clip. What else could I buy for the man who has everything?"

Eric stopped his unwrapping and gave me a quick kiss.

"I certainly have everything now," he said and I melted on the floor.

"Oh, brother," Pam exclaimed and pretended to throw up.

Eric continued ripping the paper and when he came to the box underneath, he opened it and stared.

"It`s empty?" he asked.

"No, it isn`t, silly. Look at the bottom of the box."

Eric turned the box upside down and out fell an envelope. Eric opened it and started smiling.

"A trip to Louisiana?"

"Yes. I wanted to show you where I come from. I mean, if Bon Temps and the people there don`t scare you off, then nothing does."

Eric laughed and gave me a hug.

"Thank you, Love. It`s a perfect gift. I would love to go to Louisiana with you." He looked at Pam. "Would you mind finding my present to Sookie? It`s about this size." He held up the envelope.

He winked at me and I had to smile. I suddenly knew what he had bought me.

And I was right. A couple of seconds later I opened a red envelope with little reindeers all over it and out came plane tickets for two people to Louisiana.

"I wanted to see where you come from, Sookie." Eric`s voice was slightly hoarse. "And I figured you missed home. I`m going with you to make sure you`ll come back with me again. Can`t have you changing your mind when you are reminded of how it feels to not be knee-high in snow six months a year." Eric smiled.

I kissed him. "Thank you, Eric. This was the best present I could get."

Pam stirred. "Silly girl. You should have asked for shoes." And then she laughed that deep laughter I had come to love.

"I`m sure I can buy my own sneakers, Pam."

"Sneakers?" she exclaimed. "I love having you as my sister-in-law, Sookie. But you certainly are crazy. What`s the point of walking around in sneakers?"

"They are comfortable and in my price range."

Pam laughed. "You can afford so much more now, you know."

"Ok. What I want to pay, then. Sneakers are comfortable for my feet and my purse, all at the same time."

Eric grabbed my hand. "I think you can give up once and for all, Pam. Sookie`s not a Barbie-doll you can dress up, so give it a rest."

Pam pouted slightly, but soon found more presents from under the tree. After a while we had opened them all apart from one plain, white envelope that just said `Sookie`.

"More trips, Eric?" I asked, but he just held up his hands to say that he knew nothing about what was in the envelope.

This envelope was thicker than the other ones and I opened it carefully. Inside were a letter and a lot of papers. I checked the signature and felt my jaw drop when I saw it was from Niall Brigant. My grandfather. Or at least the guy who claimed to be my grandfather.

"Dear Sookie," it said.

"I`m very happy to have found you though I`m sad I didn`t do it earlier. I`m dying and you are my only heir. For tax reasons I`m transferring some of my assets to you as a Christmas present. That way we can divide my entire fortune into two fiscal years (yes, I do anticipate dying next year). I hope you will enjoy what I have worked hard for.

Merry Christmas,

Your grandfather

Niall Brigant"

I gaped. Both at what he was telling me and how. What grandfather mixes messages of dying with fiscal years and taxes – and in a Christmas present?

I pulled out the papers in the envelope and found that I apparently owned buildings all over London, a castle somewhere in England and a large amount of stocks and bonds.

"Oh no," was all I could say before I ran to the bathroom to throw up all the lovely turkey. Oh no, indeed.

* * *

**A/N:**

Oh no, indeed. Being involved in Niall`s mafia wasn`t exactly what Sookie needed right now.

I hope you liked this chapter.


	38. Chapter 38

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 38**

**A/N:**

Thank you for all your great reviews and comments. Imagine – this story is just two reviews away from 1500. I never imagined that when I started writing and I`m very grateful for each and every one.

I`m also very grateful to **Rascalthemutant** who has now read and corrected my stories for over a year. I`m sure she`s taught me more English than any English teacher I`ve ever had :-D

**Charlaine Harris** owns Sookie, Eric and all the other characters from the SVM universe, but I hope she doesn`t mind my giving them new passports and a life in Oslo.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_This envelope was thicker than the other ones and I opened it carefully. Inside were a letter and a lot of papers. I checked the signature and felt my jaw drop when I saw it was from Niall Brigant. My grandfather. Or at least the guy who claimed to be my grandfather. _

"_Dear Sookie," it said. _

"_I`m very happy to have found you though I`m sad I didn`t do it earlier. I`m dying and you are my only heir. For tax reasons I`m transferring some of my assets to you as a Christmas present. That way we can divide my entire fortune into two fiscal years (yes, I do anticipate dying next year). I hope you will enjoy what I have worked hard for. _

_Merry Christmas,_

_Your grandfather_

_Niall Brigant"_

_I gaped. Both at what he was telling me and how. What grandfather mixes messages of dying with fiscal years and taxes – and in a Christmas present?_

_I pulled out the papers in the envelope and found that I apparently owned buildings all over London, a castle somewhere in England and a large amount of stocks and bonds._

"_Oh no," was all I could say before I ran to the bathroom to throw up all the lovely turkey. Oh no, indeed_.

* * *

**Chapter 38**

When the doorbell rang on New Year`s Eve Eric and I looked at each other. We had chosen to have a romantic dinner, just the two of us, instead of going to one of the raving parties the rest of the country was having.

We hadn`t invited anyone and I was pretty sure this could only be bad news, which made me very reluctant about opening the door.

But I hadn`t been brought up ignoring people who either called me or came by so I got up with a sigh and opened the door. Eric was standing right next to me and he was the one who gasped at the person standing there.

I would have too if I had been attracted to women. I felt pretty sure Pam would have gasped too.

The woman outside our door looked like a model, only she wasn`t skinny. She was at least 6 feet, had short hair and perfect features. She had knock out curves in a white one-piece suit that looked like the coveralls they use on crime shows – only a lot tighter.

The only thing disturbing the image was the shoulder holster she was wearing. And the baby bump.

I stared at her and when I turned around I noticed Eric was doing the same thing. Only his staring was borderline drooling.

I coughed slightly and it made Eric snap out of the trance he had apparently wandered into. He pulled me closer and kissed my neck. And then he licked my ear lobe. Not entirely appropriate in front of strangers, but I appreciated the thought.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I`m Claudine," the stranger said as if that should mean something to me.

"Yes?" I asked again. I knew no Claudines and judging from Eric, he didn`t either. Though he would probably have thrown himself after her if he hadn`t already been attached to me.

Claudine eyed me. "You are Sookie Stackhouse?" she asked.

I gave her my third "Yes". This time without the question sign at the end.

Claudine smiled a smile any dentist would put in his catalogue to lure other people into thinking he was responsible for it. Claudine`s smile was not the result of anyone in a white coat, unless that was what her parents wore when she was conceived. Claudine was one of those women with perfect genes. Teeth included.

"Niall Brigant sent me," she said. When she saw that it didn`t ring any bells she continued. "To protect you."

"Protect me?" My voice was a little higher pitched and it wasn`t just because Eric pulled me even closer.

"Can I come in, please?" I nodded and soon we were in the living room where she continued. "Niall was supposed to have told you about me coming here, but apparently he didn`t. He`s appointed you his heir and he figured that would make you a target for his enemies."

"What?" Eric yelled. "He deliberately put Sookie in danger?"

Claudine gave him the same kind of smile you give to children before you explain something very basic to them.

"He did give her a fortune too. Danger comes with money. Which is why he sent me. Niall thinks ahead."

"But I don`t want his money. And definitely not whatever comes with it," I said.

"I`m sorry, but that`s not an option. He needed an heir he could trust and who better than a complete stranger who is also his granddaughter? You made a great impression on him."

"And what is your relation to him?" Eric asked.

"I`ve been working as his bodyguard for years. Now that he`s dying, he said I should go look after you."

"You`re a bodyguard?" I asked. I couldn`t help glancing at her stomach.

"I am and I have been for years. And this…" she pointed to her stomach. "Will not get in the way. I`m a professional."

I didn`t want to question her ability to work as a bodyguard when pregnant. I admired her dedication to her work but I also doubted she would risk her baby on my account. Which was fine by me because I wasn`t planning on being in any danger. Then I remembered everything I`d been through this last year and had second thoughts.

"Excuse me for asking. I`ve never had a bodyguard before." _`Because I`ve never been in danger before_` I wanted to say. "But how does this work? Do I call you if I go on a trip?"

She smiled at me and that smile made me relax. She had a way of making people like her instantly even if she also had an aura of `don`t mess with me`.

"I move in with you and go everywhere you go," she explained as if it was the most logical thing in the world.

"Excuse me?" Eric and I asked simultaneously.

"I assume you have room for me?" she asked.

"Well yes, but…" Eric started.

"Then that`s settled," Claudine said and got up. "I`ll go pick up my suitcase from my car and you can go back to whatever you were doing."

"Celebrating New Year`s Eve," I explained.

"Oh, it`s New Year`s Eve? Great! I have a few calls to make." And with that Claudine was out the door.

Eric and I looked at each other with confusion and then we started laughing. I stopped before Eric.

"I`m so sorry," I said between the laughs. "It seems my family is pretty weird too."

Eric hugged me. "I`m so glad. It`ll make my family seem slightly more normal in comparison."

"Oh, I think your family still has a long way to go before they hit anywhere near normal." I pinched his butt lovingly. Then I looked up into his face. "But I really don`t know what to do with this. I mean, I don`t want that kind of money and I certainly don`t want what comes with it. Claudine seems nice enough, but can you imagine having a person around us all the time?"

Something made me turn my head and I saw Claudine standing in the doorway. She smiled reassuringly.

"I know this must be strange for you, but I`m sure you won`t notice me after a while."

Xxx

Claudine was right. I didn`t notice her after a while. Or rather, she became a good friend. The kind of friend you enjoy having around you.

A couple of days into the new year, Eric put on a red shirt and told me to hurry or we would miss it.

"Miss what?" I asked.

"The _Juletresfest_."

"The what?" I tried to translate. "The Christmas tree party? You have party for the Christmas tree in January?"

Eric laughed.

"Didn`t you get the memo? All employees at Viking Games and their spouses, children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, neighbor`s children and other children they may want to bring, are invited to the Juletresfest tonight. It`s a tradition in all companies in Norway. A couple of days into January we celebrate the last days of the Christmas tree by inviting a magician or a comedian to entertain the kids, serve them sausages and cake and finally Santa Claus comes and gives them all a small present. Usually candy and something with the company`s logo on it. It`s a huge thing for the kids and it makes the transition from Christmas to dark January less harsh."

"Really? And all the employees bring kids? Even the ones who don`t have any?"

"Most of them do. The companies who arrange the best Juletresfests are very popular among the kids. Childless employees can always be the cool uncle or aunt for a night. Or they just come and have fun with other employee`s kids. I`ve done that for years since Pam has been so reluctant in making me an uncle."

I smiled while I thought the whole concept over. "It`s sounds like a great idea. So what am I expected to wear?"

"Nothing special, but it should be a bit Christmassy. Something red, for instance."

And with that I changed into a red woolen dress I hadn`t worn that much since it was usually too cold outside and too hot inside.

Xxx

Kids were singing and yelling and were in a general state of high sugar intake halfway through the evening. I was impressed with the people entertaining the children because they managed to channel the overexcitement into surprise when a rabbit jumped out of a hat and laughter when the clown was shot with a water-gun.

I had to smile at the toddlers and the teens and all the other kids, all dressed in their finest and with expectation in their eyes. Their parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts sat back with proud grins to the kids they had brought with them and commented on the cuteness of everyone else`s.

Eric seemed happy and he couldn`t have looked prouder if all the children had been his own. I took his hand and then my eyes caught Claudine who caressed her stomach lightly and had a tiny smile on her lips. I couldn`t help wondering if her kid would be yelling to the magician that the rose was in his pocket, in a couple of years. Would I be needing her services that long?

Then I smiled at the thought that I had assumed, without thinking, that I would be attending this party in a couple of years. That I would be here, holding Eric`s hand and looking at my colleagues` children for years to come.

That thought warmed my heart.

Unfortunately I wasn`t allowed to smile for long. Suddenly I felt Eric stiffen and followed his gaze. He was looking at the door where a dark haired guy walked in. He reminded me of someone, but I couldn`t figure out who, before Eric growled.

"Felipe."

The dark haired man, who was Eric`s uncle - and the guy who had kicked out Eric`s mother from the company. The one and only Felipe de Castro.

He came over to us with the most charming smile on his lips.

"Eric!" he exclaimed as if they were lifelong friends. Then he looked at me. "And this must be the charming Miss Stackhouse." He then shook his head. "I do beg your pardon. Ms. Stackhouse." He looked at Eric. "Or is it Mrs. Northman?"

Eric and I had never talked about last names so I replied. "Sookie is fine."

He bowed. "Oh, then you _must_ call me Felipe."

"And to what do we owe the honor? You didn`t bring any children?" Eric`s face was completely unreadable.

"And neither did you, Eric. Neither did you." Felipe smiled.

"Did you come to discuss business?" Eric asked. "Because then I would say your timing was off."

"Of course not, my dear nephew. I came to say hello to you and your lovely wife and what better time to do this than at this joyous occasion?" He held out his hand towards all the children. "I`ve always found children such a proof of life. They bring you happiness just by being around them."

"Really?" Eric said. "But maybe you and I should leave the children for a few minutes so we can talk about whatever you came to talk to me about and then we can come back when Santa Claus hands out the presents."

"What a grand idea, Eric," Felipe said. "Lead the way and I will follow."

"Yeah, that would be a first," Eric answered which Felipe apparently found hilarious. They went out of the main area of the party and walked up the stairs to the offices.

I stayed behind at the party and tried to enjoy myself, but I couldn`t. I kept thinking about Eric being alone with his uncle and how Eric would feel afterwards. I figured I would spend the night trying to cheer him up and mentally started laying plans.

Then I got up abruptly, making a few kids turn their heads away from the magician and stare at me. I smiled reassuringly at them, but went out of the room and to the stairs. Out the corner of my eye I noticed Claudine getting up too, but I made a sign with my hands to make her relax and sit down again. There was no need to get her involved in this.

I walked up the stairs, but stopped in my tracks when I heard heated voices. Three heated voices. Eric and Felipe were not alone.

Instead of barging in, I started tiptoeing. I wanted to hear what was going on. Who that third person was and what he wanted.

The door into the room they were in wasn`t entirely closed and I could see Eric and Felipe. They both looked tormented. Eric was pale and if I hadn`t seen him smile and have fun just ten minutes ago, I would have thought he was sick. Felipe didn`t look well either. Something had definitely shook them.

I leaned a little closer to get a look at the third guy in the room and almost fell back on my butt when I saw who it was. Santa Claus. Santa Claus was threatening Eric and Felipe.

Because that was what he was doing. I didn`t have to listen to the conversation for many seconds before I understood that Santa Claus was going to go down to the party, scare all the kids and claim that Felipe was a pedophile who had abused Eric when he was a kid.

I had no idea if that was the truth, but I knew it would destroy Eric to have his colleagues` children threatened and scared. Not to mention, to have everyone gossip about him being molested. Eric, of course, had nothing to be ashamed of but I was still pretty sure this would be devastating for Eric.

Then I realized that Santa`s voice was familiar. I ran through everyone I knew in Norway. Everyone I`d ever met. Then it hit me.

Santa was Sigebert in disguise.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope to be able to post at least one more chapter before I go to Denmark and Greece on my summer vacation. Now that Denmark has been knocked out of the World Cup in football (yeah, I cried *sob*), I have one distraction less in my life.

Did you read all the stories we wrote to cheer up **Alisonbynumbers** who is currently sick? If not, please go to **www [dot] fanfiction [dot] net/u/2419303/Alison_beads_of_fiction**

**Seastarr08** is the brain (and heart) behind this and she managed to get 11 writers to write fics from both the SVM and the Night Huntress universe.

I wrote the small fic called **Healing Powers** about when Alison met Eric. I just wish my story would come true.


	39. Chapter 39

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 39**

**A/N:**

You just keep amazing me with all your lovely reviews and comments. Thank you so much!

What also makes me smile is how **Rascalthemutant** keeps correcting my stories and giving me great suggestions. My stories would not have existed without her.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_I leaned a little closer to get a look at the third guy in the room and almost fell back on my butt when I saw who it was. Santa Claus. Santa Claus was threatening Eric and Felipe. _

_Because that was what he was doing. I didn`t have to listen to the conversation for many seconds before I understood that Santa Claus was going to go down to the party, scare all the kids and claim that Felipe was a pedophile who had abused Eric when he was a kid. _

_I had no idea if that was the truth, but I knew it would destroy Eric to have his colleagues` children threatened and scared. Not to mention, to have everyone gossip about him being molested. Eric, of course, had nothing to be ashamed of but I was still pretty sure this would be devastating for Eric. _

_Then I realized that Santa`s voice was familiar. I ran through everyone I knew in Norway. Everyone I`d ever met. Then it hit me._

_Santa was Sigebert in disguise. _

* * *

**Chapter 39**

I had to think fast because there was no way I was letting Sigebert threaten all the sweet little kids at the party, not to mention what he would do to Eric. Felipe was not really my concern but I figured he could need some saving too.

I looked around, desperate for anything that could stop a full grown Santa, but there was nothing. Eric had bought a lot of toys as presents for the kids, but unfortunately no baseball bats or air guns.

Then I looked again and knew what I wanted to do. There was something I could use in the huge bag of toys. I picked up all the Matchbox cars and started placing them on the stairs. I then turned off the lights and managed to jump behind the door just as Sigebert came out.

With my heart in my throat, I watched him pick up the bag with toys and walk down the stairs, yelling HO HO HO. Only, his last HO became a scream as he placed his foot on one of the cars, flew up in the air and landed on the stairs with a loud thud.

"Oops," I said and smiled to myself.

Then Eric came out to see what had happened, looked at me and ran down to Sigebert and knocked him out. Or rather, knocked him even more out. Sigebert was out cold from landing on the stairs.

I ran into the room to get Felipe. The kids would need a new Santa and Eric wouldn`t do. He was way too tall for the outfit.

"Take off your clothes - now," I yelled at Felipe.

He quirked his eyebrow.

"You`re Santa," I explained. "Take off your pants and jacket and I`ll go get the Santa-outfit."

I didn`t have to go far because Eric had carried Sigebert up the stairs already. I bent down and started pulling off the Santa-boots, the hat, beard and the jacket. Eric grabbed the pants and I said a little prayer that Sigebert had a higher rate of wearing underwear than Eric.

Luckily Sigebert had gone 100 percent into the role of Santa and wore boxers with little reindeer. I certainly knew what I wanted to buy for Eric next Christmas. I stifled a giggle, grabbed the Santa-outfit and ran to Felipe with it.

"Put this on fast," I said without looking at him. I had seen more than enough half-naked men for one evening. I went back to Eric before Felipe could object to my plans for making him a Spanish Santa.

Eric was on the phone when I came back.

"Yes, mother. He`s here. Your trusted employee and friend Sigebert is down for the count. I hope you can find people to pick him up? I really don`t want to report him to the police." Eric`s voice was thick with anger.

I couldn`t hear his mother`s response, but it must have been satisfactory because Eric hung up and looked at me.

"Cars, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah, they were the only weapon I could find."

That earned me a huge kiss, which I quite frankly needed now. The stress of the last minutes poured over my body and I needed to sit down. I got something better, though. Eric`s strong arms around me, pulling me into his body.

"I love your resourcefulness, Sookie."

"Well, I don`t," a voice suddenly boomed from the stairs. Claudine looked pretty aggravated, staring at Eric and me kissing next to a knocked out Sigebert. "What happened here and a better question – why did you walk into danger without me to protect you, Sookie?"

"Oh, Claudine. I was just…"

Claudine interrupted me.

"Next time you go anywhere, I go with you." Before I could feel like a child being scolded, she smiled. "But for the record, you did a great job here."

Just as I was about to answer her, Felipe came out, dressed like Santa.

I couldn`t help laughing and soon Eric joined me. Even Claudine smiled even though she didn`t know the story behind our new Santa.

"HO HO HO", Felipe said with a smirk, making us laugh even harder.

Then we heard the kids screaming downstairs. "_Julenissen, Julenissen, Julenissen_". They were calling for Santa Claus to come with the presents. Eric had told me that it was a tradition to let the children scream for Santa, or _Julenissen_, for a few minutes to get them really excited before he entered the room.

"I think that`s your cue, Felipe?" Eric said.

"Nicolás, if you please," Felipe smiled. "And I think I`m wanted downstairs."

And with that he walked down, shouting HO HO HO and taking care he wasn`t stepping on any of the cars. We could hear screams of joy and Eric pulled me back into his arms. Then I remembered Sigebert`s accusations.

"Was there any truth in what Sigebert said, Eric?" I asked in a low voice. Claudine could hear every word I said, but it still gave me a sense of privacy to not say it very loudly. I really didn`t want to wait for the answer until we got home. Felipe was downstairs with a lot of children and I had to know now.

"No, Sookie. Sigebert could have made a great case with the fabricated evidence he had and it would have hurt Felipe and me. But it`s not true. I have many reasons to not trust Felipe. This is not one of them."

I felt relief wash through my body. It was bad enough what Eric`s godfather had done to him and imagining another adult making Eric`s childhood a nightmare, was terrifying. I tip-toed and gave him a kiss.

"I`m glad," I said, then mentally slapped myself as it was a pretty redundant thing to say.

Eric took my hand and walked me down to the party. Kids were running around everywhere, thrilled with everything they had pulled out of the goody bag. Their parents came over to Eric to thank him for a great party and a few of the kids were winked at and pushed forward to make them thank Eric too. I couldn`t help smiling at the little girl who had Eric bend down and then gave him a lollypop-sticky kiss on his cheek.

"She`ll break some guy`s heart in 15 years," Eric smiled when she walked away.

We looked at each other and suddenly the look was a little more serious than I felt comfortable with. We had never discussed children and I had no idea what Eric`s position on the subject was. I didn`t even know my own. Did I even want children? Did I want them now?

So I turned to Claudine who had not moved more than five meters from my side.

"So this is your kid in a couple of years, huh?" I asked her.

She beamed.

Xxxx

It worked out surprisingly well to have Claudine staying with us. One would have thought I would be threatened by having a stunning beauty in the apartment I shared with a husband who clearly found her attractive, but I wasn`t.

First of all, I`m not really the jealous kind. Jealousy is kind of an insecurity-thing and though I had been unsure of Eric`s love for a long time, I wasn`t anymore. Furthermore, Eric never gave me any reason to be jealous. He was friendly to Claudine and even generous, but I was the one who received his love and affection.

And Claudine was definitely not the flirtatious kind. It may have been her pregnancy and it may have been her profession, but I came to think it was her personality. She was friendly and kind, even sweet at times, but never in a way that was overstepping any boundaries.

So when Eric suggested we make reservations for Claudine as well for our trip to Louisiana, it felt natural to include her. Eric felt that her presence lifted a heavy weight off his shoulders because he was constantly worried something would happen to me and even though I thought he was exaggerating, I couldn`t help being touched when he said that he would be lost if anything ever happened to me.

"You know I`ve kissed a lot of frogs to find my princess," he said waggling his eyebrows. "I`m not letting anything happen to you now."

"You poor thing," I teased. "To have to go through all that frog-kissing. What a sacrifice."

"Yeah, it was tough, but I pulled through." His arms held me close. "I`d sacrifice anything for you, you know."

"But how do I know I`ve found my prince? I`ve hardly kissed any frogs," I teased. I pulled at his shoulders to make him bend down to me and then I kissed the tip of his nose.

"Princesses always get their princes." Eric kissed my mouth deeply. "Haven`t you read the fairytales? And kissing frogs is highly overrated anyway."

Eric and I did a lot of kissing and then we did a lot of other things. I didn`t really see the need to kiss anyone else but him. Not now and not for the rest of my life.

Xxxx

January was dark and cold. Technically it wasn`t darker than December but it felt like it since there were no Christmas lights in the streets. And the temperature dropped to minus 20 Celsius which would be around minus 4 Fahrenheit. I never did get used to measuring temperatures in Celsius, but that was the only information I got from the thermometers.

It was a nice dry cold and there was no wind, but it was still freezing. So I counted the days to our trip to New Orleans. We were leaving in the middle of January and it wasn`t a day too soon. Norwegian winter was beautiful but my poor body was not made for that kind of weather and now it was in desperate need for some thawing.

I was looking forward to showing Eric around in my part of the world. He`d been to New Orleans a couple of years ago. Eric had probably traveled half the globe. But Bon Temps and even Shreveport were unchartered territories for him. It would be a great new experience for me to be the expert on something and I couldn`t wait.

We arranged to have a stop-over in London. Mainly for Claudine so she could visit family and friends, but we never said it out loud because she would have refused she had the need for it.

"We can go shopping for a couple of days," Eric stated

"I thought your sister had the shopping-bug, not you?"

"Oh, I can always use another huge belt buckle and some obscenely tight t-shirts," Eric winked.

"And I would love to see the city. I`ve never been to London, you know."

"Then consider me your personal guide to London," Eric said with a bow. "I lived in England for years, you know."

Xxxx

We were packing when the phone call came. Eric went into the living room to answer it and came back five minutes later with murder in his eyes and a jaw that could slice cheese.

"What happened?"

"Fucking Victor needs me," Eric groaned.

"What? Now?"

"Yes. I`ll have to go as soon as I`m packed and then join you in London in a day or two." Eric cursed, but then he sighed and pulled me into his arms. "I`m sorry."

My arms went around his waist and I gave him a hug. "You can`t help it. I`ll have fun with Claudine and then you`ll meet us before we go to Louisiana. I`m not that fond of belt buckle shopping anyway," I smiled, trying to lighten his mood.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" he asked – and then he told me without words. Victor just had to wait another hour for Eric to turn up.

* * *

**A/N:**

This wasn`t the longest chapter I`ve ever written, but I`m off for a three week vacation (Denmark, Greece and Turkey – here I come!) and if I`d written more, the cliffhanger would have been steeper.

I hope you liked the semi-cliffie instead. This story will return with a tan - or maybe that was me? We`ll both be back in August :-D


	40. Chapter 40

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 40**

**A/N:**

WOW, I really eft you hanging here, huh? I hope I haven`t lost you all during my vacation?

What has amazed me in all the weeks since I posted my last chapter was how I, each and every day, got several reviews, subscriptions and/or favorites to this or one of my other stories. That brought a smile on my face when I was in Greece and in the Arctic climate of the north of Norway!

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** from the **Alexander Skarsgård library **for correcting this and giving me great suggestions.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_We were packing when the phone call came. Eric went into the living room to answer it and came back five minutes later with murder in his eyes and a jaw that could slice cheese. _

"_What happened?" _

"_Fucking Victor needs me," Eric groaned. _

"_What? Now?"_

"_Yes. I`ll have to go as soon as I`m packed and then join you in London in a day or two." Eric cursed, but then he sighed and pulled me into his arms. "I`m sorry."_

_My arms went around his waist and I gave him a hug. "You can`t help it. I`ll have fun with Claudine and then you`ll meet us before we go to Louisiana. I`m not that fond of belt buckle shopping anyway," I smiled, trying to lighten his mood. _

"_Have I ever told you how much I love you?" he asked – and then he told me without words. Victor just had to wait another hour for Eric to turn up. _

* * *

**Chapter 40**

I wasn`t a happy camper when I was sitting on the plane bound for London with Claudine, but then I decided not to let a minor disappointment ruin the trip I`d been looking forward to. The bottle of champagne the air host suddenly presented us with, helped my mood substantially.

"This is a present from…" the flight attendant looked at an envelope he carried in the hand where he wasn`t balancing the bottle and two glasses. I was going to tell him he didn`t have to look for the name because I knew Eric was the champagne-donor, when he surprised me, "Felipe de Castro."

"What?" I gaped which made the flight attendant smile and give me the envelope as if it was a proof of him not lying to me.

I opened it and started reading the card.

"_Dear Sookie,_

_I want to thank you for your help at the Christmas party and hope you and Eric will enjoy my little token of gratitude. I will always owe you a favor and I hope to be able to help you some time in the future. _

_Sincerely_

_Felipe_"

If I gaped when the flight attendant told me Felipe, and not Eric, had sent the bottle of champagne, my jaw was on my chest after reading the note. It wasn`t until after a while I noticed he hoped Eric would also enjoy the bottle. Wasn`t he aware of his own son`s scheming?

The flight attendant started opening the bottle, but when he wanted to pour into Claudine`s glass, she held her fingers over it and nodded at her belly.

"All the more for you, then," he said with a wink and poured champagne into my glass.

Xxxx

I giggled my way through customs at Heathrow Airport. The champagne had gone straight to my head and though I usually preferred to be in control and disliked being inebriated, right now I welcomed the instant giddiness the bottle had brought me. It took away the boring edge of customs.

The champagne was probably also the reason why I got all teary and smiled my 1000 watt smile when Claudine pulled out tiny knitting pins and some yarn from her suitcase when we were sitting in the black, London taxi I had insisted on us taking. I wanted to explore London and the taxis were part of the experience. Claudine had wanted us to get a limousine or maybe even take the express train since it was at least an hour`s drive, but I wanted to go in a black taxi. Luckily one of the black taxis drove up just beside us when we exited the airport.

Claudine hadn`t been allowed to knit on board the plane, but we hadn`t driven far before ittybitty little socks were starting to form on her fast moving needles.

I sighed slightly. Eric and I hadn`t really had `the talk` and with his mother wanting him to procreate as fast as possible, and bugging him with it, I wasn`t sure when and if he even wanted children. In romantic moments we had been close to discussing the subject and deep down I thought he wanted to start a family at some point.

I wanted children at some point too, but Eric and I were such a new couple and our relationship hadn`t exactly been a walk in the park. A few more years as just a couple would probably suit us fine. We could travel and see the world and we could get to know each other before we were kept up all night by children screaming.

At least that was what I thought up until I saw Claudine knitting socks. Baby socks.

I turned my head and looked out at London – the city I had wanted to see with Eric, not a baby-sock knitting Claudine. The champagne-effect had apparently worn off already. But then we drove past the Parliament and I recognized the London Eye too. It made me smile and my baby-thoughts disappeared. I was in London.

I looked at Claudine, still with a smile on my lips. She smiled knowingly back.

"You`ll have fun here, Sookie," she said.

"We`ll have fun," I corrected. Yes, Claudine was here to look after me but I`d come to look at her as a friend. Sort of.

I went back to staring out of the windows, trying to memorize every building and all the sights when a sound made me turn my head back to Claudine. She had put down her knitting and was trying to get the attention of the driver when he suddenly made a sharp turn that threw me sideways in the taxi. When I looked up Claudine was on the small seat just behind the driver and knocked on the window with her elbow. She wasn`t trying to get the driver`s attention. She was trying to get into his little cabin.

Unfortunately the window was stronger than Claudine`s elbow and the only result of her efforts was the driver increasing the speed of the car, going through side streets that got smaller and more desolated. We went from streets with shops to streets that looked empty.

Then the car came to a sudden stop, throwing me to the floor and knocking Claudine`s head into the Plexiglas window separating us from the driver, ironically making it crack. She fell down next to me and I noticed blood running down her cheek.

When the door to the taxi opened I grabbed the only weapon I could find, Claudine`s knitting needle, and jabbed it into the first thing I saw, an arm. To my joy, I heard a loud scream but then I was rewarded with a fist to my jaw and everything went black.

Xxxxx

It took me several minutes to understand where I was when I came to. There was movement and the sound of an engine, but it was dark and I couldn`t see anything. In the end it was the smell of diesel that made me realize I was in the trunk of a car.

After a few seconds of panic, not really knowing what to do, I did the only thing I could do, I started kicking and screaming on the off chance that someone walked by and heard me. Of course, I could be way out in the countryside with only cows and sheep hearing my screams, but it was worth a shot. I kicked at the lock and where the tail lights were, hoping to do some damage to either.

It turned out someone did hear me because the car came to a stop and a few moments later the trunk was opened and a person in a balaclava looked down at me with hate in his eyes.

"Shut up, you dozy bitch," he said and then the trunk was slammed closed before I got to ask him why I was there. But then he didn`t really seem like the type who liked played `20 questions`.

Judging from how I was thrown back and forth in the trunk, the car went at a high speed and turned corners on what felt like two wheels. I had no idea how long I`d been out and I had lost all sense of time. It felt as if we were driving for hours and if my need for a bathroom was any indication, I had been abducted for quite some time.

I went through the possible `whys` and `whos` of my abduction and felt pretty sure it wasn`t anyone from my old boring Sookie Stackhouse life who was after me, unless my kindergarten sweetheart had suddenly remembered how I had pushed him into a puddle of mud and wanted revenge.

I thought of all the people I had met after I came to Norway and could think of a few who wouldn`t go sleepless at the thought of me lying in the trunk of a car with the taste of my own blood in my mouth. But why would any of them abduct me in England? It would have been much easier for them to grab me in Norway.

Eric`s mother and step-father lived in this country, of course, but I failed to see why they would have me thrown into the back of a trunk. Sophie-Anne may have wanted me with a one-way ticket back home at some point but now she was busy enough with her own problems.

I began to wonder what had happened to Claudine and worried for her and her baby. The last I`d seen of her was her on the floor of a black taxi, bleeding out of her mouth. The thought made me cold inside and panic started to grip me again.

I almost started screaming again, not because I thought it was wise, but in pure desperation at the thought of Claudine being hurt somewhere. Her life, her health, was on me – or at least that was how I felt. I could bear my own pain and panic but the thought of Claudine was eating me up inside.

I was embarrassed when I realized I didn`t know much about her. She`d just come into my life uninvited and I had just accepted her there, no questions asked. Now I wished I had asked the questions.

Then something took my thoughts away from Claudine. The wheels of the car I was in suddenly screeched and I was thrown back and forth in the trunk, and then, in what felt like slow-motion, the whole car turned upside down. The sound of the crash was so loud and it felt as if I could think a thousand thoughts before the car landed. The last I felt was intense pain.

Xxxx

I woke up to a contraction that made me scream out in pain. And then another one. I didn`t know how I knew it was a contraction, but I was sure. I was giving birth.

"Oh, Sookie. The baby is almost out. I can see the head," Eric said with tears in his eyes. He was suddenly next to me, smiling. I smiled back at him. We were having our baby and it was a time for joy. A little pain now and we would be parents to a beautiful little child.

It sounds corny when someone says they are filled with happiness, but that was exactly how I felt. Joy from fingertip to the tip of my toes.

Another hard contraction hit by body and it felt as if I was being turned inside out and then there was a massive wetness between my legs.

"It`s a girl," a voice said and Eric bent over and kissed me.

"We have a little girl."

Then I was gone again.

Xxxx

"Are you awake?" Eric`s voice was thick with worry. I tried to open my eyes, but couldn`t. Then I fell into the deep darkness I had been in for some time.

In the darkness I was happy and things were fine, but little glimpses of reality showed me worried faces, people in white coats and strong lights in my eyes.

I preferred the darkness.

Then I heard Eric`s voice again and I felt his hand in mine. I couldn`t help squeezing it slightly and that brought a lot of reaction. Soon the whole room was full of people, or so it sounded.

My eyes were opened again and very bright light shone into them. I blinked and suddenly I was there. I was in the room with Eric and the doctors. I could see Eric`s smile and I tried to return it.

"What happened?" I asked, my voice being only a whisper.

"Oh, Sookie. You`ve been gone for four days. You were in a car crash," Eric explained.

"I was…" I searched for the word, "abducted".

"I know. The two people abducting you were killed in the car crash but the fact that you were in the trunk spoke its own language. The police are all over this."

"They were killed?" I asked. Eric nodded. "Good," I surprised myself by replying. I`d never been a vindictive person but right now, lying in the hospital bed with any number of injuries, I was glad the people who did this to me were gone. Then I remembered something. Someone. "What about Claudine?" I asked.

"She`s in the next room," Eric answered. "You can visit her later."

I smiled and was very relieved to find calm in Eric`s eyes. And love.

I had forgotten about the doctor even though he was checking my vitals while I was talking to Eric, but then he leaned over me to get my attention.

"You have a couple of broken bones that will heal and I want to keep you for observation for damages to your head." Then his face got slightly more serious. "But I am sorry to tell you that you lost the baby."

I looked at him without understanding what he was saying. What baby?

Then I looked at Eric who was staring at the doctor.

"What baby?" he asked.

* * *

**A/N:**

It may seem like a cruel dream I gave Sookie, but unfortunately nature can be cruel. If you miscarry when you`re asleep (and I suspect when you`re unconscious), your dream can make it into you giving birth to a healthy baby. It`s closely related to when your alarm clock rings and your dream makes it into a phone ringing in your dream. I know it`s cruel – I`ve had it happen to me :-(

Now that you`ve read this chapter, you will see why I procrastinated. My heart aches when I write angst. I hope you survived reading it.

I have some positive messages too. My story "**Let Women Vote**" won the Public Vote in the Age of Eric contest. It made me so incredibly happy and I`m very thankful for each and every vote! Actually I`m not down from my winning high yet.

I also have another story for you: **Peppermintyrose** goaded me into writing "**Don`t Move Eric Northman**" and now I`m doing my best to ruin her reputation by blaming the whole story on her (hoho).


	41. Chapter 41

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 41**

**A/N:**

Wow, the feedback I got from the last chapter was amazing. Thank you all for the lovely reviews and PMs. They certainly brought a smile to my face (and my colleagues wonder why I`m constantly grinning when I`ve just posted a chapter).

One of you, and now I can`t find who so I can give her the credit she deserves (hugs to you all the same), suggested that I write a recap of the 40 first chapters. This story has been going on for over a year and it isn`t easy to remember it all. I thought it was a great idea so before the chapter, I will give you the first 40 chapters in short. If you remember it all, just scroll down to chapter 41.

I want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for betaing and for being such a great friend. I also want to thank all the lovely ladies at the **Alexander Skarsgård Library Forum** for being so sweet and caring when life is dark and troubled. And I had to laugh when **Sarge** met **Alexander Skarsgård** in Poland and told him he had his own library. His reply was: "I have a library? Cool! Like a president! Yeah."

Oh yeah…

I also want to thank **Schafer** for helping me out with information about the British police. I hope I didn`t mess up the way they speak too much *cough*

* * *

**A Recap of the First 40 Chapters**

Sookie is invited to Oslo, Norway by her boyfriend of several years, Bill. At least that is what she thinks but at the airport a tall, blond stranger by the name of Eric Northman picks her up and tells her Bill has gone missing. And that he never invited her in the first place.

Eric brought her over in an attempt to get Bill back from Lorena, Eric`s competitor in the computer game business, and Bill`s ex-girlfriend.

Eric shows Sookie around Oslo and flirts with her. He also introduces her to his half-sister Pam. Their mother is Sophie-Anne Northman-Ravenscroft who runs Eric`s deceased father`s company, Northman Enterprises. Eric is a wealthy man and also somewhat of a playboy and is constantly in the gossip magazines, usually with a new girlfriend on his arm.

Sookie meets Alcide and his girlfriend Debbie who ditches Alcide. After a while Sookie starts dating Alcide who spends all their dates pining for Debbie who now has a new boyfriend.

Sookie is in PR and had planned on writing a book while staying with Bill and had therefore not applied for a work permit. Eric hires her to manage all PR at his company and the quest to get the work permit starts.

Eric takes Sookie to Copenhagen, Denmark, where Bill is and she gets him to go back with her and Eric to Oslo. Copenhagen is also where Sookie gets her first Eric-induced orgasm.

Back in Oslo Bill comes to live in Eric`s house where Sookie also lives. None of them share bedrooms but Bill is very clear on wanting Sookie back and Eric is as flirtatious as ever. One night when Alcide and Debbie are visiting, Debbie slips Rohypnol into Sookie`s drink and tells Bill to go make love to her. Bill ends up raping Sookie and is deported.

He is not deported to Peru, unfortunately (because that`s where we all know he belongs), when Eric later has shock-induced amnesia (you hear, Alan Ball. Bill belongs in Peru). Sookie finds Eric swimming in the forest lake and brings him back. It turns out his company is under investigation for breaking the law and there are reporters everywhere. Pam suggests Sookie take Eric to her cabin in the mountains to get him away from reporters.

At the cabin amnesiac Eric introduces her to cross-country skiing, snowbathing and the art of enjoying the sauna and Sookie introduces him to a new side of herself – the naked one. They end up in bed (and in the aforementioned sauna) but unfortunately Eric still doesn`t know who he is.

In the meantime the cavalry, by the name of Sophie-Anne, comes to rescue Eric`s company. Only, Eric also finds out Sophie-Anne has been trying to "sell Eric off" as a potential husband and father to several desirable women, among them a very witchy Marnie Stonebrook who was the reason for the investigation in the first place. Eric gets his memory back, but does not trust Sookie now.

He has good reason not to trust anyone as his mother is spying on him, now through an old friend, Charles, who makes sure he is invited into Eric`s house to stay. The reason for Sophie-Anne`s concern over Eric is the fact that he is single and has no children. Sophie-Anne is under a lot of pressure from Eric`s father`s two sisters – or rather their husbands. They have agreed upon putting Sophie-Anne in charge but they demand that Eric produce an heir, and soon.

If Sophie-Anne wanted Eric to marry, she will soon get her wish fulfilled because Sookie does not get a work permit and Eric offers to marry her so she can stay in Norway. Only, Sookie was not the bride Sophie-Anne had originally intended. And a pretend-marriage will not produce her the grandchild she wants so desperately.

Sophie-Anne invites Eric to her home and he brings Sookie along, but the visit ends up with Eric`s uncle, Peter Threadgill, being nervous about Sookie entering the family. Sophie-Anne angers Sookie by telling her she has contacted Bill and was told that Sookie was dead-set against children, which made Sophie-Anne dead-set against Sookie. Sookie, on the other hand, overhears Sophie-Anne threatening Peter.

Eric leaves with Sookie who on the other hand promises to marry him. As friends. For the work permit.

One day Sookie comes home to find an employee of Sophie-Anne, Sigebert, in Eric`s house. He is there to dig up information about her and tells her the sad story about how badly Northman Enterprises will be run, and how many lives it will cost, if Sophie-Anne is not in charge. Apparently Eric`s other uncle is even worse than Peter Threadgill. Sookie and Eric, who comes home while Sigebert is there, tells Sigebert they are getting married and he begs them to have children too.

Eric and Sookie`s wedding is small, if you don`t count the paparazzi, and sweet. They marry as friends but end up being lovers again on their wedding night. Eric talks her into going to Denmark with him, for a huge meeting with Sophie-Anne and a lot of other wealthy people Sophie-Anne wants Sookie to meet.

The meeting is at a castle and the first person she meets is an old university friend, Barry. He has turned into a hunk but is as gay as he was when he was one of Sookie`s closest friends. Eric doesn`t know this, though, and is jealous of Barry. He makes a spectacle on the dance floor, making Sookie run to Pam`s room and not come out for dinner.

This turns out to be a good thing because the whole dinner party has been drugged and Sookie learns that a mysterious group is taking control of the castle and is doing unknown things to its guests. She manages to get Eric and Pam out, with the help of Barry, and they call for the police who tell them that it was an attack from a group who wanted to humiliate the people at the party.

They succeed with Sophie-Anne who is a broken woman when she leaves the country, thus paving the way for Eric`s uncle Felipe de Castro to take over the company.

Eric and Sookie`s relationship is a bit rocky. They married for the work permit and Eric says Sookie has to take the initiative if she wants more. Soon they are forced to share bedrooms as the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, bribed by Felipe de Castro, claims their marriage is a fake one and want to control their living arrangements. Sookie panics before the control visit, moves all Eric`s things into her bedroom and throws away his condoms as she thinks condoms make them seem less like a married couple.

Though Eric had made it clear he wanted Sookie to ask him out, he asks her for a date. Only it`s not a date but an arrangement so that she can meet a man who claims to be her grandfather – her grandmother`s lover. Niall Brigant is a very wealthy man, but Eric tells her his money may not be all legally earned.

Sookie and Eric are slowly getting closer to one another again. They don`t have sex, but the main reason is because Sookie has her period. One night Felipe de Castro`s son Victor Madden comes by to tell Eric the company is now out of his mother`s hands and in Felipe`s. He wants Eric to swear allegiance or he will be forced to give up his own computer game company. Eric accepts this but is heartbroken by it. Sookie, who no longer has her period, suggests they have sex but Eric does not want pity-sex, as he thinks this is what she offers. The next morning they find comfort in each other`s arms, though, and are now a couple.

It`s Christmas and chance will have it that Eric and Sookie give each other the same Christmas present – a trip to Sookie`s home state of Louisiana. Sookie also gets a small fortune from Niall Brigant – and a promise that she will inherit everything he leaves behind when he dies, which is apparently soon.

Later that evening Sookie tells Eric about her Uncle Bartlett molesting her when she was a kid and Eric tells her about his Italian godfather, Appius Livius Ocella, who invited him to Rome on countless occasions, only to rape him, when he was just a big kid.

On Christmas morning Victor pays Sookie and Eric a new visit and sees the marital bliss with his own eyes when Sookie gets a "real" wedding ring from Eric now that they acknowledge themselves as being married for love.

Some days later a very beautiful and pregnant woman knocks on the door and introduces herself as Claudine, Sookie`s new bodyguard, sent by Niall Brigant. She is accepted into the household and accompanies Eric and Sookie to the annual "Christmas tree party" in January, a party for all the children of Eric`s employees.

At that party Felipe also turns up and takes Eric back for a private conversation. Sookie later follows them and learns that Sigebert has them tied up and threatens to ruin their reputations by dressing up as Santa and scaring the children – not to mention, making false allegations about both Eric and Felipe.

Sookie makes Sigebert stumble down the stairs and Felipe is a stand in as Santa.

Later when Sookie and Eric are leaving for Louisiana, with a stopover in London, Victor Madden forces Eric to stay behind for a few days, thus making Sookie see London with Claudine only. On the way over there Sookie receives a letter of gratitude from Felipe, making it clear he doesn`t know Eric had to stay behind.

Sookie and Claudine take a taxi to London but Claudine is knocked down and Sookie is abducted. She is put in a car trunk but the car is in an accident, killing her two abductors, and Sookie is in the hospital where she is told she has lost the child she was carrying.

A child she knew nothing about.

* * *

**Chapter 41**

We had a moment of silence until the doctor realized that neither Eric nor I knew I had been pregnant. I was probably gaping in surprise since I couldn`t remember having had sex without the use of contraception. Then I recalled that one time, the time I`d thrown out all condoms in fear I would lose my work permit. I cringed at my own stupidity.

Maybe my own pregnancy had been the reason why babies had occupied my thoughts so much lately? My body had been preparing my mind for what was to come.

But now I wasn`t pregnant anymore. A tear trailed down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away. How could I mourn over something I hadn`t even known was there?

Eric looked heartbroken too and when I grabbed his hand he sort of sagged a little, but then he pulled himself together and gave my hand a squeeze.

"I`m sorry. I assumed you knew," the doctor said.

After the doctor had left us, Eric sat down next to me, still holding my hand. He looked as if he wanted to ask me something, but then he looked out the window instead.

I wanted to say something too, but I couldn`t. If I said anything about the miscarriage, it would inevitably lead to us talking about having children and that was not a conversation I wanted just now.

I closed my eyes and sighed, but held Eric`s hand to show him I wanted him to stay. He sat down and leaned his head into the crook of my arm and I slipped my other hand into his hair, toying slightly with it.

It brought comfort having him here like that and I sighed again. I opened my eyes and was about to speak, say something, when a slight knock made me look at the door instead of at Eric.

The door opened and two people walked in. A woman who was probably in her early forties and a man who was slightly younger.

A quick glance at Eric told me that he didn`t know any of them. They came over to the bed.

"Sookie Stackhouse?" the man asked.

"Yes?"

"I`m Inspector Tom Lattesta and this is Chief Superintendant Sara Weiss. We`re from SOCA," he explained.

When I didn`t look as if I knew what SOCA was, the woman leaned over me and said in a mixture of American and British. "Serious Organized Crime Agency." She added a phony Southern twang which I suspected was for my benefit. "Drugs, organized immigration crime, mafia, that`s the kind of things we work with."

I nodded without understanding why they were here.

"So what was my abduction related to? Drugs, organized immigration crime or the mafia?"

"We suspect the mafia." Sara Weiss said. "Which of course means both drugs and organized immigration crime."

"And a long list of other types of crime," Tom Lattesta followed up.

"I can`t see how this relates to me." Then I looked at Eric. "Would the mafia black-mail your mother?"

My abductors would certainly lack some vital information if they thought my disappearance would have Sophie-Anne Northman-Ravenscroft run to the bank to get my ransom.

Eric shook his head. "I don`t think they would. She`s kept a pretty low profile here."

The two police officers looked at each other. Then Sara Weiss leaned over me again. I began to dislike the way she hung over my bed in some ill-fitting attempt at being familiar.

"Do you know Niall Brigant?" she asked, innocently.

That took me entirely by surprise. Yes, I knew Niall Brigant. Just before Christmas he had suddenly approached me from out of nowhere and told me I was his granddaughter. He had also told me he was leaving his entire fortune to me. Oh, and that he was dying.

Claudine had been his employee and she was his way of looking after me. Or checking up on me.

I hadn`t welcomed Niall Brigant claiming that the guy I`d always known as Gramps, wasn`t my grandfather. I didn`t want to know that my grandmother had slept with this stranger or that I was going to be rich. Very rich. Because it was pretty clear to me where the money came from and it wasn`t from any legal business.

I really didn`t want to answer her question. I hadn`t done anything wrong by talking to Niall and I had certainly told him I didn`t want his money, but I still felt uncomfortable with having the police asking me questions about him.

"You sound American?" I asked in an attempt of changing the topic. She didn`t sound American at all. Only phony.

She smiled. "Well, thank you," she said, laying the accent even thicker. "I worked in Mississippi for a while and I guess I`m just a natural with accents."

"So Niall Brigant," Tom Lattesta said. He wasn`t thrown off course by me flattering his colleague.

"Yes, what about him?"

"What`s your relationship to him?" he asked, his voice getting more and more annoyed.

"I`m not really sure," I answered truthfully. I couldn`t be absolutely positive that he was in fact my grandfather.

Eric took my hand and gave it a squeeze.

"What does this Niall Brigant have to do with Sookie being abducted? Did he do it?" Eric asked. I squeezed his hand back, thankful that he asked a question that might confuse the detectives.

Tom Lattesta looked at Eric. "What? No, we don`t believe so."

"Then why are you asking Sookie questions about him?"

"He is a known criminal and we want to explore all possibilities. This could be related to his mmm line of business."

"Really?" I asked, feeling sick all of a sudden. "But I don`t know his line of business. You should ask Mr. Brigant instead of me."

Sara Weiss and Tom Lattesta exchanged looks.

"Any information you can give us would be very helpful." Sara Weiss said, patting the hand Eric was not holding.

"I don`t have any information. I`ve seen Niall Brigant only once and he told me very little about himself."

There was an awkward silence where I felt sure my two visitors would have loved to be able to communicate telepathically. Finally Tom Lattesta broke the silence.

"Why did he contact you, Sookie? We can`t find any reason why he would go to Oslo to visit you."

"Or why he would give you a body guard," Sara Weis continued.

Eric straightened up.

"Her name is Ms. Stackhouse to you and I really don`t think she can give you any good answers to your questions. What I do know is that she is tired now and needs her rest. She has been through a terrible ordeal and we fully expect you to catch whoever did this to her." Eric was getting angry and he let them know it.

"Of course, Mr. Northman," Sara Weiss said to Tom Lattesta`s obvious annoyance. "We`ll be coming back when Soo…Ms. Stackhouse is feeling better." Then she turned to me. "We hope we can get your cooperation later on."

Xxxxx

I must have slept for hours after the visit from the police officers. It had worn me out and after a sweet kiss from Eric, I almost passed out.

I was woken up by some very loud voices from the room next door.

"You stupid cow. You were supposed to look after her and now she`s in the hospital, having lost my great-grandchild. "

A female voice spoke but I couldn`t make out what she was saying. I looked at Eric who was also listening into the conversation. He whispered "Claudine" and I remembered that he had told me Claudine was just next door. And apparently getting chewed out by Niall Brigant. My grandfather, the mobster.

"I wish it had been your child that was lost instead. You`re fired and I`ll make sure you will never work again."

I sat up.

"Eric. You have to stop him. He can`t treat her like that. It isn`t right."

Eric nodded and headed for the door when Niall came through it, all smiles. One would never have guessed that he had been yelling at a pregnant woman just a minute before.

Niall stalked over to my bed exclaiming "Darling" all the way. The word got a very long "a". He moved in to hug me, but I yanked back.

"Why did you fire Claudine? It wasn`t as if it was her fault."

Niall looked taken aback. "Of course it was. It was her job to keep you safe and you weren`t safe, which means she failed."

"And why wasn`t I safe in the first place?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" He looked at Eric as if he might clue him in.

"I mean the fact that I get a visit from the SOCO, no SOMO." I huffed. "The whatever you call your agency for fighting organized crime."

"The SOCA?" he asked.

"Yes, that`s the one."

"They were here?"

I rolled my eyes. "That`s what I`m saying. And they were more than implying that I was abducted because of you."

"I`ll deal with it," he said very nonchalantly. "And I will make sure your abductors are caught and punished."

The way he said it made the little hairs in my neck stand up but I didn`t want to ask him what he meant. I just swore to myself that I would never see Niall Brigant again and that I would never accept anything from him – alive or dead.

"Thank you, Niall," I said insincerely. I faked a yawn. "I really need to sleep a little now. We can talk more later, can`t we?" Like in the week with two Thursdays.

Niall quickly excused himself and after trying to give me another hug, but failing, he was out the door. Eric and I waited a long time before we spoke and after a couple of minutes we both breathed out loudly.

"I need to get out of here, Eric. No way am I going to stick around for Niall`s enemies to find me or for the British police to turn me into their informant. And I`m certainly not waiting for Niall to come back."

Eric nodded. "You`re not well enough to travel coach, but I`ll make a few calls and get you transported to a private jet. Do you want to go home?"

For a minute I thought he meant Oslo because that was what felt like home to me, but then I remembered we were planning on going to my home state.

"No, I don`t want to go to Louisiana in this condition."

"Then I know just the place." Eric smiled his wolf smile and I knew he had something planned already.

"Sure. Take me to Neverland, Peter Pan," I said. "Just watch out for Captain Hook."

I was certainly ready to leave London and everything that had happened there.

Xxxxx

Eric didn`t take me to Neverland but it was a paradise all the same. An ambulance took me to the airport, though I found it entirely embarrassing. Then the private jet flew us to Puerto Rico where we transferred to a seaplane and landed just outside an island Eric claimed had been Norwegian. And Danish.

"It`s one of the darker chapters of the history of Denmark-Norway," Eric explained. I knew Denmark and Norway had been one country up until 1814 – I think every Norwegian I had met had told me about it. "And later for Denmark," he continued. "We owned these three tiny islands known back then as the Danish West Indies and they were the backbone of our economy. Slaves transported under gruesome circumstances to these islands and forced to work in sugar plants, sugar being sent to Denmark and Norway and sold and money being made to abduct even more slaves."

"And here I thought Norway was all peace and understanding?" I teased.

"Sure. The Vikings just popped in for tea and a chat too?" he teased back. "We`re not as innocent as our blue eyes will have you believe."

"And what are these islands now?" I wasn`t really sure where I was apart from somewhere in the Caribbean.

"They are yours, my dear," Eric smiled. "Denmark sold them to the USA in 1917 and I believe you refer to them as the US Virgin Islands. We are now on the beautiful island of St. Croix."

And it really was a beautiful island. In the little town we had landed by, there was an old yellow fortress with red sentry boxes in front of the entrance. They looked exactly like the sentry boxes in front of the royal castle in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Eric noticed where I was looking and handed me a pair of binoculars. "The monogram of the last Danish king to rule here is still on those sentry boxes," he said.

The seaplane finally stopped and a small boat took us ashore to a tiny island just outside of St. Croix.

"My mother owns the hotel and the island," he said, pointing at a building. "And she made sure we had a private house to ourselves."

"That was very sweet of your mother," I said, not able to hide the surprise in my voice.

"She likes you more than you think, Sookie," Eric said. "Or at least as much as she can like anyone. My mother is not very good with the whole concept of liking."

Xxxx

Eric and I had some lazy days in the sun.

I slept a lot, but often woke up bathed in sweat. And I needed the light on every night, which I hadn`t done since I was five years old. When it was dark, I kept feeling as if I was back in the trunk.

Eric gave me quiet comfort, but he really couldn`t help me much. My anxieties were there whether he held me close or left me alone.

So was my sadness. I`d always had a sunny outlook on life and even everything that had happened with Bill and Eric`s mother (well, his whole family, really) hadn`t changed that. But now… now I was feeling sad. Sad, deep in my bones.

"A Mojito for the lovely lady," Eric said while handing me a drink with green leaves and lime fruits.

I looked at the drink in surprise. I was so used to my gin and tonic, I wasn`t really expecting anything else.

"I figured you needed a new kind of drink now," Eric said. "Try it."

It tasted good and I sent Eric a smile to tell him I liked it. He looked almost relieved so I tugged at his shirt.

"Come here," I whispered and made him lose his balance so that he landed on top of me. I found his mouth and kissed him. "I figured you wanted to taste the drink too."

I had missed being close to Eric. Sex was, of course, out of the question while I was still bleeding and honestly, sex as in intercourse, was not what I wanted. But I wanted a closeness that was not related to sadness or comfort. I wanted to feel desirable again.

But Eric`s kiss was hesitant, which was not like him at all. I wanted to ask him why, but I didn`t. I pulled back and had another sip of my Mojito.

The drink was good.

* * *

**A/N:**

I went to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (and I still want to call them the Danish West Indies *sigh*) this Christmas. If you`ve never been there, I can really recommend it. It`s incredibly beautiful!

The US Virgin Islands are definitely a dark chapter in the Danish-Norwegian history. In Norway they sort of think it was all Denmark`s fault, since they thought of themselves as a colony too, so they don`t learn much about it in school. We do in Denmark, though.

There is no doubt Denmark and Norway had a boost in the economy in the 18th century – all based on the sweat and blood of the slaves in the West Indies. The stories about how the slaves were treated and punished by the Danes and the Norwegians are gruesome.

Denmark-Norway was the first European slave-trading country to abolish slave-trade between Africa and the West-Indies, though. This was in **1803**.

In **1848** the slaves on the three islands revolted and demanded their freedom (slave-trade _on_ the West-Indies was still allowed – only the "import" of new slaves was abolished in 1803). The king in Denmark suggested they could have their freedom over the course of 12 years, but they demanded it now. The governor Peter von Scholten didn`t agree with his king and said: _Alle de, der på De Danske Vestindiske Øer ikke er frie, kan fra i dag anse sig for at være frie _(Everyone, who on the Danish West Indian Islands are not free, can from today consider themselves free).

In 1917 the islands were sold to USA for 25 million dollars.


	42. Chapter 42

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 42**

**A/N: **

I want to thank all of you who kept asking me for new chapters to this story – and especially Sydkiwi, who asked me at just the right time . It was great to know the story was missed. I just hope I can live up to your expectations.

**Rascalthemutant** just moved, but in the middle of this, she took the time to read this chapter and correct my mistakes. Thank you very much, Rascal – and good luck!

I also want to thank **Peppermintyrose** for reminding me of especially Eric`s character in this very emotional part of the SVM. I was at loss but she knows the characters as her back pocket.

**Charlaine Harris** owns everything and I`m full of admiration of the universe she`s created.

**From the previous chapter: **

_Eric gave me quiet comfort, but he really couldn`t help me much. My anxieties were there whether he held me close or left me alone. _

_So was my sadness. I`d always had a sunny outlook on life and even everything that had happened with Bill and Eric`s mother (well, his whole family, really) hadn`t changed that. But now… now I was feeling sad. Sad, deep in my bones. _

"_A Mojito for the lovely lady," Eric said while handing me a drink with green leaves and lime fruits. _

_I looked at the drink in surprise. I was so used to my gin and tonic, I wasn`t really expecting anything else. _

"_I figured you needed a new kind of drink now," Eric said. "Try it."_

_It tasted good and I sent Eric a smile to tell him I liked it. He looked almost relieved so I tugged at his shirt. _

"_Come here," I whispered and made him lose his balance so that he landed on top of me. I found his mouth and kissed him. "I figured you wanted to taste the drink too." _

_I had missed being close to Eric. Sex was, of course, out of the question while I was still bleeding and honestly, sex as in intercourse, was not what I wanted. But I wanted a closeness that was not related to sadness or comfort. I wanted to feel desirable again. _

_But Eric`s kiss was hesitant, which was not like him at all. I wanted to ask him why, but I didn`t. I pulled back and had another sip of my Mojito. _

_The drink was good._

**Chapter 42**

Eric and I enjoyed the sun, the beach and the lovely island. I`ve never been one to go idle and I did feel a bit lazy just lying in a beach chair reading a romance. I enjoyed the tan I was getting after having spent months without hardly seeing the sun in Oslo.

I had probably bought every romance novel to be found on the island of Saint Croix but they kept my mind from thinking too much about what had happened to me in London. And since my body needed the rest, reading about handsome hunks and spunky damsels in distress was my way of escaping my inner turmoil.

My body was slowly healing and I felt my old strength returning. My body would never be entirely the same, I had a few scars to show for my abduction, but it would be functional and I had never been particularly vain.

My mind was another matter. I had never been one for gloomy thoughts but I did catch myself drifting off into Sadland from time to time.

I spent every night curled up against Eric`s body. We didn`t have sex but I found calm with his strong arms around me. Every other night I woke up panting, filled with terror, completely at sea. I held on to Eric as if the storm would sweep me away unless he was my anchor. I always cried when I woke up and one night he wept with me, huge tears that ran down his face in a startling way.

"Don`t," I begged him. I had been trying to act like my old self when I was with him. Of course, he knew differently.

"I love you," he whispered and I fell back onto my pillow and slept peacefully the rest of the night.

We became this old married couple, holding hands and enjoying each other`s company but without any lust or sex. Eric kept his distance physically and I had more on my mind that I could deal with.

I picked up Eric`s towels after him in the bathroom and crept into his arms every night and Eric asked me about all the novels I was reading. One night he wanted to know if the heroes in my romance novels were as sexy as he was.

"I could dye my hair dark," Eric deadpanned when I told him about the tall, black-haired and very sexy hero in the novel I was reading. "Then I would look exactly like him."

Imagining Eric with long black hair made me laugh.

Eric came over and sat next to me. "I like seeing you laugh. I knew you would be back to the way you were."

That, of course, made me stop laughing. "I don`t know if I`m back to the way I was, Eric."

"No. But we will make it work," he answered as if he was convincing himself as much as me. "And time will help too."

I nodded, but looked at him. I could tell he wanted to say something but then he just sighed.

I let my hand rest on his thigh and tried to search out his eyes. He was staring at my hand as if it was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Then he turned his head, very abruptly, and leaned into my neck.

"Sookie," he whispered. "I find it very hard to hold back."

I pulled away and looked at him. "Then don`t."

In that instant I felt like the little Dutch boy when he removed his finger from the hole in the dam. A flood almost drowned me, a flood by the name of Eric. He kissed me and squeezed me and had his hands all over me.

Well, not entirely over me. He was carefully avoiding touching me between my legs.

"It`s fine, Eric. We can have sex."

"But… infections?"

"Wear a condom."

"A condom?" he asked. "Shit. I don`t have any condoms."

"Lucky you, then, that I bought us some."

"You`re sure?" he asked without really asking so I never bothered to answer. Or maybe me pulling off his shirt was answer enough. And when I opened his pants he groaned something that could be interpreted as "Oh, Sookie."

Soon he was inside me and it felt as if it had been ages. I knew I had missed the sex but how much I had missed it, wasn`t clear to me until he moved himself in and out of me in rapid strokes.

There was no pain and I welcomed the fact. Secretly, I had been nervous about inner damages that would cause me problems when I had intercourse again. Of course, there were inner damages, but they weren`t physical. They didn`t cause me any pain now but they prevented me from reaching what I always reached with Eric, an orgasm.

Xxxx

Our time on the island came to a stop. It had been four weeks of getting a nice tan, reading dozens of novels with men with muscular and naked chests on the covers – and a lot of lovemaking after our first time on the couch. My orgasm wasn`t back yet, but I wasn`t worried. It wasn`t as if making love to Eric was a bad thing just because I didn`t reach the final peak. Being close to a naked Eric was always good.

Eric wondered if I didn`t want to go to the place I grew up. That was how he phrased it. The place I grew up.

"No, I want to go home," I answered without thinking. The smile on his face told me he`d noticed the fact that I considered his home my home now. "I want to go back to work and … be normal."

"Me too. And we can always visit Louisiana later."

I nodded and went to start packing.

Xxxx

We were seated on the plane, me leaning into Eric`s shoulder, hoping to get some sleep on our way home, when Eric coughed.

I pulled back and looked at him. I`d known for some time that he had something on his mind. He`d looked at me when he thought I didn`t notice and he`d started conversations that he`d stopped very abruptly. First I had thought it was the lack of sex that had made him hold back, but even right after our lovemaking, he had been tense and had opened his mouth to say something, only to close it immediately again.

Eric coughed again. Then his eyes burned into mine.

"Sookie," he said.

I tried to smile to encourage him, but failed. You never want to hear whatever your husband needs four weeks of courage to tell you.

"Sookie," he said again. "You know I never wanted to leave you alone in London?"

"I wasn`t alone. Claudine was…"

"You know what I mean."

"Yes?" I asked to get him to continue.

"Victor forced me to stay behind. I would never have stayed in Oslo if I didn`t have to. Our trip was important to me. And when…"

The thought of everything `and when` implied made me tear up. I blinked and felt my cheek get wet. Then I looked at Eric and saw his eyes pool up too.

"You couldn`t have known," I said.

"No, but if I had been there…"

"Eric. You can`t think like that."

Eric took my hand. "When I heard… I hated Victor. I truly did."

"I did too."

"I wish I could have changed what happened," Eric said, his voice thick with emotions.

"I do too."

We ended up falling asleep like that, holding hands and with our faces turned towards each other. I wasn`t sure which part of our little talk that had helped me, but I fell asleep with a smile on my lips.

Xxxx

It was strange to be home. We hadn`t been away for that long but it felt like an eternity.

Butit was also good to be home. Back to the place I had come to like very much and back at work too. As much as I liked suntanning and reading about how the shy nanny and the sexy widower finally found each other in spite of all the misunderstandings, I preferred to be useful.

And I was useful when I got home. I went back to work and found how nice it was to use my brain to evaluate Viking Games` market position instead of mulling over the injustices life sometimes dealt you.

I enjoyed coming home from work, entirely worn out and ready for bed, only to have two strong hands on my shoulders, massaging me and giving me the energy to not fall asleep the moment my head hit my pillow.

Eric and I enjoyed each other`s company and he seemed much more relaxed at home than he had been on Saint Croix. I did catch him looking at me with a worried look on his face, from time to time, but mostly we went back to our old routines that included a lot of hugging, kissing and bedroom activities. In all the rooms of our home.

We never discussed what happened in London. I didn`t see the point to it. What was done was done and one couldn`t undo the terrible things that had happened to me. To us.

We could have talked about the fact that I had been pregnant and whether we wanted me to be pregnant again but since I wasn`t sure if I wanted another pregnancy myself, I never brought it up. I expected Eric to feel the same way about it. If he wanted a child and heir, he would have said so. Or at least I hoped he would.

Eric and I were still in a fairly new relationship and we were in no rush to decide if we wanted little Erics and little Sookies in our lives.

I never heard from Niall after I got home. He could have taken a turn for the worse as he was very ill and could just have decided he didn`t want me in his life any more. Or maybe he was embarrassed that I was attacked because of my relation to him. Recalling the way he treated poor Claudine, I didn`t expect the latter. Niall didn`t strike me as a man who made excuses for himself.

Deep down I had to admit that it made me sad. I had very little family and would normally have jumped at the opportunity to have more. I didn`t particularly welcome a connection to a prominent member of a mafia, but there was still a little girl inside me who wanted a granddad.

We`d been home for two weeks when I finally felt the annoying jetlag let go of me.

I also felt lighter somehow. I`d been working, I`d been crying and I`d been doing my best to find myself again. Not my old self because I knew she was lost for good, but another version of me. A version that didn`t cry.

When Eric waggled his eyebrows one night, I remembered that it had been over a week since I had cried. And I had laughed several times the last couple of days. Eric had even commented on it.

"Are you tired?" Eric asked, only `tired` was said in a tone of voice that indicated quotation marks. "Do you want to go to sleep." `Sleep` was said in that same eyebrow waggling tone.

I didn`t smile or laugh. I grinned. I lusted for Eric for the first time since before London. I had wanted sex with him all along but tonight was the first time I truly lusted for him. I felt it deep in my stomach.

"No," I grinned. "I`m not tired. I want to see your naked butt and I want to see it now."

If Eric`s eyebrows had been waggling, mine were flying up and down my forehead. I never got why anyone would use botox and deprive oneself of all the facial expressions one could have with the eyebrows.

Before I could blink, Eric had loosened his pants and they were pooling around his ankles. His boxers too. But I wasn`t looking at his butt. It was a very erect part of him that caught my attention.

"Are you sure you only want to see my butt, Sookie?" Eric asked.

"Actually I`m more up for touching," I smiled. "And not just your butt."

Eric moved over to where I sat on the couch and I grabbed his penis and pulled him gently to get him down to a sitting position.

"Oh Sookie," Eric groaned.

The next moments were a hurricane of clothes being clumsily pulled off bodies and Eric and I kissing and groping each other as if we had a time limit.

When we were naked, Eric turned to sit on the couch and grabbed my hips to pull me on top of him. I began to ride him, enjoying his grunts and moans. And then I began to enjoy something else too. A feeling that had been lost for so long, the little tingling beginning between my legs and rapidly moving out in my arms and legs. When my cheeks began to feel numb too I knew I was standing by the edge of the cliff, waiting to jump, not entirely sure I could.

Eric`s hands settled the matter when he grabbed my hips even harder and pulled me down onto him as quickly as I moved up. A deep moan escaped my throat and a sense of relief washed over my body. Sexual relief but also a relief that my orgasm was back.

An orgasm that only got stronger when Eric`s groin met mine and he yelled out a few profanities and then went slack, with me coming down on top of him.

We were silent for some time, both panting and just enjoying ourselves. My orgasm had come back to me with interest and I knew I had a silly smile plastered on my face.

"You… Are you all right?" Eric asked. He was smiling too.

"I am very, very all right," I whispered. Grammar be damned. "I`m so all right I might slide off the couch and lie in a puddle on the floor."

He smile became more secure. "So that was good for you? Better than it`s been?"

"You knew that…?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Well, of course you knew. I just… had some issues that had to work themselves out."

"I knew it couldn`t be my lovemaking," Eric said, and though the words were cocky, his expression was definitely on the relieved side.

I was back to my smiling.

We half sat, half lay on the couch for a while, enjoying this special moment, when the phone rang.

I groaned as I was not entirely sure I could stand on my feet so Eric slipped out from under me and walked over to where the phone was ringing, giving me a view of that fantastic butt of his.

"Yes?" Eric answered. I`d never gotten through to him that it was polite to actually say your name when you answered the phone.

I had begun gathering my clothes when a sound made me look back at Eric. The sound could best be described as a hiss. Then he nodded at something that was said to him, looking very serious.

"When will you be here?" he asked. He nodded again and hung up without saying goodbye.

Eric stood by the phone for a while, stiff as a statue, then he turned towards me.

"Who was it?" I asked, my voice shaking just a little bit.

"It was my godfather. He`s coming to stay with us."

"Your godfather?" I asked. "Appius?"

Eric nodded.

"But wasn`t he the one who…?" I never finished my sentence. How do you ask your husband why he would open his home to the man who repeatedly raped him when he was in his young teens?

**A/N:**

I hope you liked this chapter. I also hope the next one won`t be that far out in the future.

This story won`t go on forever. After having read chapter 1 of Dead Reckoning and the spoilers that are out there, I`ve decided not to add the contents of that book into my story. There`s too much Sam in it and since Sam is not in this story at all, I just can`t make it work.

I`ve taken the SVM-characters home with me. Would you like to do the same? Write a story for the **Home Sweet Home contest** that **Suki59** and I are hosting next month www . fanfiction . net/u/2623209/HomeSweetHome


	43. Chapter 43

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 43**

**A/N:**

Oh no – yet another month went since the last chapter *blushes*. Well, I`ve started writing the next one already so I hope I`m forgiven.

I want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for reading and correcting this chapter between midterms and papers she has to write. She is amazing!

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

"_Yes?" Eric answered. I`d never gotten through to him that it was polite to actually say your name when you answered the phone. _

_I had begun gathering my clothes when a sound made me look back at Eric. The sound could best be described as a hiss. Then he nodded at something that was said to him, looking very serious. _

"_When will you be here?" he asked. He nodded again and hung up without saying goodbye. _

_Eric stood by the phone for a while, stiff as a statue, then he turned towards me. _

"_Who was it?" I asked, my voice shaking just a little bit. _

"_It was my godfather. He`s coming to stay with us."_

"_Your godfather?" I asked. "Appius?" _

_Eric nodded. _

"_But wasn`t he the one who…?" I never finished my sentence. How do you ask your husband why he would open his home to the man who repeatedly raped him when he was in his young teens?_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 43:**

Eric and I had had a night with very little sleep and it had unfortunately not been because we`d humped like bunnies. We`d held hands and kissed. And then we`d spooned and relaxed in each other`s arms. But we hadn`t been able to sleep. There had been too much we`d wanted to talk about and too much we couldn`t discuss.

The next morning Eric went out for a jog and I stayed at home. Not even ten wild horses could make me run in the streets of Oslo when I was more likely to fall and break my legs on ice-glazed streets, than have a nice work out.

Eric had explained that the streets were always this slippery in the spring because temperatures varied between freezing and non-freezing, making the snow thaw and then freeze again. He`d bought me something he called _brodder_ which were little spikes I could put under my shoes to prevent me from falling, but one couldn`t run with them so I`d stopped running.

This was the reason why Eric was out when the phone rang. I`d been deep in thought about Appius visiting us and welcomed the interruption. At least until I heard who was on the other end of the line.

"Hello? Iz thiz Sookie?" a familiar voice said in a Spanish accent.

"Yes, hi Felipe," I answered. I figured that if you`d seen a guy in a Santa-suit, you could be on first name basis with him. "Eric isn`t in right now."

"Good, good. I am calling to speak to you," he said.

"Oh really?" That couldn`t be a good thing, could it?

"Yes. I wanted to know how you were doing. Are you better now?" he asked.

"I`m fine," I said, though it wasn`t entirely the truth.

"Good. I am so sorry that you had to go through this. I know Victor had nothing to do with the cruel attack on you but I have had words with my son about keeping Eric from you. If Victor had not wanted to ruin your vacation, Eric may have been able to prevent the abduction." Felipe`s accent got stronger and his voice a little darker.

"Thank you," I answered, not knowing what else I could say.

"Eric is like a second son to me, you know." Felipe`s voice was soft and cheerful again.

"I didn`t realize this," I said. I was pretty sure Eric would not consider himself a son of Felipe. He didn`t even want to be his nephew.

"I have already told Victor that he shouldn`t take it for granted that he is my successor," Felipe continued.

"You know, you really should talk to Eric about this." I didn`t want to be mixed up in the family affairs.

"You are quite right, Sookie, but I wanted to make sure I had an ally in you. Eric is a very talented businessman and I would like to see him advance to his full potential. Unfortunately the differences between his mother and me may be holding Eric back."

I was fairly sure that it wasn`t Sophie-Anne`s and Felipe`s fight for power that held Eric back from working his way to the top of the family operation. Eric was happy where he was. He didn`t want the aggravation of sitting at the end of the board room table.

"Again, I think you should talk to Eric about this," I said.

"Yes. Yes, of course, Sookie. Please give my regards." I could almost hear the smile on Felipe`s lips.

We said our goodbyes and I was back to my pondering over Eric`s godfather and how I would receive him. I knew I would never have expected Eric to welcome Uncle Bartlett into our home but then Uncle Bartlett had been dead for several years and I didn`t have to worry about him calling me out of the blue.

When Eric came home from his run I could see that he`d been thinking too. That familiar wrinkle between his eyebrows was very deep and his body seemed tense, not relaxed as it usually was when he`d been working out.

He went into the shower without any eyebrow-waggling questions if I wanted to join him. When he came out, clean and smelling so very Eric, he sat down on one of the chairs opposite the couch I was sitting on.

"I`ve been thinking," he started and I looked at him. "Maybe you should stay with Pam when Appius is here?"

He formed it as a question but it really wasn`t.

"I can do that," I said. "When will he be here?"

"He will arrive this evening. So if you go to Pam in the afternoon, you won`t have to see him."

I nodded. I could tell this had been a hard question for Eric to ask me so I didn`t ask him any questions. I assumed he had a good reason to make me leave.

"Sure. I`ll just pack a few bags. Have you talked to Pam about it already?"

Eric nodded.

"Do you know what Appius wants? I mean, you haven`t talked to him for ages, have you?" I asked.

"No, I haven`t talked to him since … " Eric thought it over. "Since I was a teenager."

"And now he wants to stay in your apartment?" I prompted.

"He does. I`m not sure why but Appius is not the kind of man you say no to." Eric looked at his hands.

Those words made my stomach turn. I went over to Eric and sat down in his lap. He visibly relaxed with the physical contact and gave me a sad smile.

I let my hand comb its way through his hair and made little braids of his bangs.

"Please take care, Eric." I whispered into his ear and then I gave him a soft kiss on the throat.

After some kissing we walked silently back to the bedroom and made love. It was very sweet and very quiet, almost as if we wanted to confirm that we were a couple and that the outside world couldn`t hurt us.

Then I got up, took a shower and started packing.

I was almost done when the doorbell rang. I checked my watch and it was only two o`clock so it couldn`t be Eric`s godfather yet. Or so I thought.

I opened the door and saw a man who could be Silvio Berlusconi`s twin. Or at least they had used the same plastic surgeon and hair dye. But whereas the Italian prime minister only wore tailored suits, this man sported black jeans and a Black Sabbath t-shirt under a leather jacket. Obviously a man who wanted to seem younger than he was.

He did not have to introduce himself. This was the infamous Appius.

To my surprise and dislike, he pulled me into a kiss on both cheeks and then he held me by the shoulders.

"So this is Sookie?" he asked, his eyes roaming over my body. "I am Appius Livius Ocella."

I nodded. I didn`t want to make him feel welcome. I also didn`t invite him in though he was cold enough to have blue lips. What fool walks out in the Norwegian winter in only a t-shirt and a leather jacket?

"You`re early," I stated.

I heard Eric come up behind me.

"I don`t think your wife likes me," Appius said to Eric in a light voice and then he took a step forward, forcing me to step aside and let him in.

I closed the door behind him and went into the living room with him and Eric. I had planned on going to Pam before Appius came but now I wanted to make sure Eric was okay.

Eric`s eyes were on his godfahter, much like mine would be on a snake that could jump up and bite me. It was clear that Appius wasn`t a welcome guest in our house and it made me wonder why he was a guest at all.

"What a beautiful home you`ve built for yourself, Eric," Appius said, looking around with a proud smile on his face as if Eric`s home reflected back on something Appius had done.

"Thank you," was Eric`s thin-lipped response.

We sat quiet for a while and then I couldn`t stop the question I`d been dying to ask.

"Why are you here?" I said.

Eric gave me a nervous glance. "Be polite, Sookie," he said.

Appius looked surprised and one could tell it was because he didn`t have many people questioning him.

"To see my dear Eric, of course," he smiled a smile that had cost him plenty of Euros at expensive dentists.

"Well, I`ll be off then," I said. I hated to leave Eric with Appius but respected that he needed me gone. "Call me tonight." Eric had promised me he would call me every night.

"I will, Sookie." He got up and gave me a quick kiss.

I finished packing my suitcase and carried it outside. To my surprise a kid was standing next to Eric`s car, his back to me.

"Can I help you?" I asked in Norwegian.

The boy said something in what I interpreted as Russian so I repeated my question in English, which made him smile.

"I am traveling with someone but he told me to wait here," the boy explained in English. He only had a slight accent.

"Out here in the cold?" I asked. "Who are you traveling with?"

The boy shook his head. "I am not allowed to say his name." He looked at the door I`d just come out of and I knew who he meant.

"You`re traveling with Appius?" I asked him and the boy nodded. He was one of those kids that could be anything between 14 and 17. A shiver ran down my spine when I realized how young he could be. "Why didn`t you come in with him?"

"He wanted to meet his godson alone first."

"Is he your father?" They didn`t look the same at all. Appius was short and plump whereas this kid was tall and very lean.

The boy shook his head. "No, he`s my godfather too." He paused for a while. "My father sent me to him to learn how to run a business." His eyes lit up. "Maybe you know my father? He is a very famous Russian oligarch. Nicolay Alexandrovitch. He owns a football-team in England," he added with a childish pride.

I smiled and nodded because I`d heard the name. "And what`s your name, then?"

"I`m Alexei," he said.

"Nice to meet you, Alexei. I`m Sookie, Eric`s wife." I smiled at the boy. "You know, you look very cold. I`m sure Appius has had more than enough time alone with Eric now. I think you should go up there and ask Eric to make you some hot cocoa."

Alexei gave me a shy smile and then he walked over to the door. It wasn`t until he was inside I noticed the long scratch he`d made on Eric`s car.

Pam opened her door for me, sporting a huge grin.

"So you finally found out that I was much better company than my brother," she said.

I smiled and she showed me to the guest room. When I had emptied my suitcase I went to find her in the kitchen.

"I`m just putting the sushi on a plate," she explained.

Pam wasn`t a cook and since Oslo could only offer pizza and various kinds of Asian food as take-away, Pam ate a lot of sushi.

"Thank you." I wasn`t very hungry but I figured I could always eat a sushi bite or two.

"Could you open the wine?" Pam pointed at the bottle.

I opened it and poured two glasses. We went to the living room and sat down with wine and sushi.

"Did you see Appius?" Pam asked when we`d eaten a few bites.

"Yes, he came a bit early."

"What is he like?" Pam asked. "I`ve never been allowed to meet him."

"Old, creepy, trying to look younger than his age," I described.

Pam laughed. "Just say it like it is."

"Well, I don`t like that he is visiting Eric," I said in a low voice.

"He has helped Eric a lot, you know." Pam smiled reassuringly.

"I`m sure Eric could have done just as well without that help," I answered.

We finished our sushi and Pam cleared the plates and went to make some coffee. I followed her and leaned my hips on the kitchen counter.

"How did Appius help Eric?" I asked. I didn`t want to know but I had to ask.

"First of all he helped Eric focus. You should have seen Eric when he was younger. So full of himself. Appius helped him become more humble." Pam smiled at me but I couldn`t smile back. My intestines had decided to trade places.

Appius may have made Eric more humble and I was pretty sure I knew how he`d achieved that. I would much rather have had an Eric who was full of himself.

"What`s wrong, Sookie?" Pam asked. "You`re looking pale."

I couldn`t tell Pam what was on my mind so I changed topics.

"I was just thinking of a phone call I got from Felipe. He told me he would consider making Eric his second in command instead of Victor. Does that make any sense to you?"

I wasn`t sure how much she knew about the family business, especially since it was Eric`s family, not hers. But there was no harm in asking.

"Victor is a moron with no talents for business. He can scare people and he can trick them but he is just not a businessman. Maybe Felipe wants to take the company one step further? Eric would be the perfect choice because he has the brains Victor lacks."

The coffeemaker was finished and Pam grabbed the coffeepot and two cups and brought them back into the living room. I followed her.

"But Eric`s happy where he is, isn`t he?" I asked.

"He is but Victor doesn`t know that. He`ll see Eric as his competition and will try to get rid of him." Pam poured the coffee and started to sip her cup as if Victor trying to get rid of Eric was everyday business.

"How do you think Victor will try to get rid of Eric?" I asked her.

"He`ll try to discredit Eric. And if he can`t do that, he`ll take out his business, run Eric bankrupt or something. He won`t do it out in the open, though. Victor is not one for open battles. A knife in the back – that`s more his style."

"He`s scared of Eric?" I wondered.

"Of course he`s scared of Eric. Eric is everything Victor is not. Victor would not be where he is today if it hadn`t been for his father. Eric has started a successful business all on his own, with no help from our mother. Victor resents that."

Pam and I discussed Felipe and Victor some more and then we watched some TV.

Later that evening Eric called. It was a relief to hear his voice, though he sounded troubled by something. He didn`t tell me what it was and I didn`t ask him.

But it took me a long time to fall asleep that night.

* * *

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for reading this. I hope you liked it

I also hope I can convince some of you to write a story, using the SVM characters but placing them in your country/home town. I`m co-hosting the **Home Sweet Home contest** with **Suki59** and we are looking forward to your story! **www . fanfiction . net/u/2623209/HomeSweetHome**

Do you want to talk to me about my story **Dead in Denmark** (or anything else, really) you`re always welcome to send me a PM or tweet me. But you could also go here **Fangreaders (dot) blogspot (dot) com** on **March 16th** because they have invited me in to talk about my very first story. I`m very flattered


	44. Chapter 44

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 44**

**A/N:**

Oh, these chapters are so hard to write. The whole situation with Appius is unpleasant, to say the least. I want this story to both include the important parts of the books but also be credible in a human world.

So I read up on abuse and people reporting. It was a sad affair. In the part of Oslo where I live with around 30,000 other people, the Child Welfare Office had 4 – FOUR – reports of abuse last year. And that`s in spite of the fact that you can report anonymously, that teachers etc _have to_ report and that a large majority of the population answer "Yes, I would report child abuse" when they are asked in questionnaires. This is why I didn`t have Sookie report Appius. I`m trying to make these characters human – which includes human shortcomings.

But it is painful to write, I can tell you that.

Thank you for all your great reviews and the encouragements I get in PMs. I love them so much, especially now that I`m writing about subjects I would rather not write about. I`m trying to do them justice all the same.

Thank you so much to **Rascalthemutant** who corrected this and made sure it was readable for you.

I don`t own the characters or the quotes and storyline taken from the books. **Charlaine Harris** owns everything and I hope she forgives me when I tell her they followed me home.

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

"_How do you think Victor will try to get rid of Eric?" I asked her. _

"_He`ll try to discredit Eric. And if he can`t do that, he`ll take out his business, run Eric bankrupt or something. He won`t do it out in the open, though. Victor is not one for open battles. A knife in the back – that`s more his style."_

"_He`s scared of Eric?" I wondered. _

"_Of course he`s scared of Eric. Eric is everything Victor is not. Victor would not be where he is today if it hadn`t been for his father. Eric has started a successful business all on his own, with no help from our mother. Victor resents that."_

_Pam and I discussed Felipe and Victor some more and then we watched some TV. _

_Later that evening Eric called. It was a relief to hear his voice, though he sounded troubled by something. He didn`t tell me what it was and I didn`t ask him. _

_But it took me a long time to fall asleep that night._

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 44**

A strange sound woke me up in the middle of the night. I reached over and checked my alarm clock. It was 3 am. Something was wrong but I didn`t know what. I sat up and listened but couldn`t hear anything apart from the normal sounds of the building. Then the sound was back. Metal on metal.

I tried to pinpoint where the sound came from. It wasn`t Pam because I could hear her light snores through the wall to her room.

The sound was there again and then the sound of Pam`s front door opening. It wasn`t a loud sound, or Pam would have woken up too, but I heard it.

Then I heard floorboards creaking. Someone had broken into Pam`s apartment and was walking down her corridor. I looked around for a weapon or at least my phone so I could call the police.

But what was the number to the police? This stupid country had three emergency numbers. One for the police, one for medical aid and one if you had a fire. And I couldn`t remember any of them. What was wrong with 911? One easy number that everyone could recall.

I probably wouldn`t have called the police even if I`d known the number. I didn`t trust Norwegian authorities after my experience with the work permit. I still had a nagging feeling that they would throw me out of the country if I coughed at the wrong place.

So I needed a weapon and I needed it fast. It was dark in the room, only the lights from the stars came through the window. But it was enough for me to see the outlines of everything Pam kept in her spare room.

That was when I saw it. Pam played floorball, or indoor bandy as they called it here. And her bag was tugged away in the corner. Pam had showed me the bandy-stick once and now I wished she`d played ice hockey instead. Bandy-sticks were made out of light-weight plastic.

But it would do.

I tiptoed over to her bag and pulled the stick out. And then I waited behind the door. And I waited.

I saw the door handle turn downwards and the door opened slowly. Then a figure walked in. I could see that it was a man, but I couldn`t see who it was. Or if it was someone I knew. But I figured no one would break into Pam`s apartment and sneak into my room if they had good intentions. So I yelled as loudly as I could and hit with all my power.

"Ouch!" the intruder said and then I hit again. And again.

I could hear Pam rumble in her room, which was a good thing because with my fifth hit, the bandy-stick broke.

Apparently the intruder could hear Pam too because he pulled back and then he started running. Before Pam could come to my aid, and she was much better armed than I was – with a baseball bat – the intruder was out the door and down the stairs of Pam`s apartment building.

"We have to follow him. I couldn`t see who he was," I shouted to Pam and then I started pulling on my boots. I swore at the Norwegian weather. Back home I would just have stuck my feet into a pair of flip flops or maybe some sneakers but here I had to spend valuable minutes pulling my boots on my feet and tying the laces.

Pam was faster and handed me my coat. In our pajamas, boots and coats we ran down the stairs, Pam carrying the baseball bat.

I almost pulled the main door from its hinges, trying to get out into the street before the intruder was gone. I didn`t have much hope, though, of even catching a glimpse of him. Tying the bootlaces had taken too long.

This was why I yelled in surprise when I saw a dark figure in the white snow. Lying flat on his back.

"Is it him?" Pam asked.

"I think so." He was wearing a black hooded sweater and dark jeans, just like the man in my room.

"I think he fell on the ice," Pam whispered.

That was when I noticed what he was wearing on his feet. Shoes. He was wearing shoes. You can`t walk the streets of Oslo in March, wearing shoes. It`s suicide. Not just because you`ll freeze to death but because shoes are too slippery.

"He`s not from around here," I stated.

"Oh, great," Pam groaned. "I love international thugs. We`ve had so few of them lately."

I couldn`t help barking out a dry laughter.

Pam pulled the man`s hood away and stared at him. "Shit," she said. "Do you know who this is?"

I shook my head. I`d never seen the man before.

"It`s Bruno, Victor`s secondincommand."

"What does he want?" I asked but Pam wasn`t listening. She`d pulled a cell phone from her coat, and I spent a few seconds admiring her for bringing it because I definitely hadn`t thought of it, and dialed a number.

"Bruno attacked Sookie," she said without any greetings. I could hear Eric`s agitated voice on the other end of the line. "Shut up, Eric, so I can tell you what happened… Yes, Sookie is fine." Then Pam went through what had happened and finally she hung up. Then she dialed the number I couldn`t remember. The police.

"Get inside, Sookie. I`ll fix this," she said and I did what she said.

I couldn`t help crying when I got back in bed.

I loved Eric but knowing that he had asked me to leave our home because he needed to accommodate Mr. Creepy in person and then have his cousin`s second-in command try and attack me at night, was too much for me to handle.

I loved Eric or I would not have put up with everything I`d been through since I`d met him, but it seemed my love was being tested more times than what a human being should endure.

I finally fell asleep but I didn`t sleep well. Not well at all.

The first thing I did the next morning was drink a huge cup of coffee. I was tired to the marrow of my bones and that was not just because I`d had too little sleep that night.

Eric was in his office when I arrived. He got up when he saw me, walked over and pulled me into his arms. For some reason everything was fine when I was in Eric`s arms. Gone were Appius and Victor and that stupid shoe-wearing intruder from last night.

Eric kissed my forehead and pulled me even closer into his embrace. We stood like that for a few moments and then I pulled back.

"How are things at home?" I asked.

Eric looked away.

"Why did Appius come to you after all these years?" What I really wanted to know was why Eric had opened his door to him but I didn`t ask that question. Either it was because I had faith in Eric and knew he wouldn`t have done it unless he`d had good reason – or because he`d had to. Or I was afraid of the answer. Or all of the above.

Eric sat down and pulled me down on his lap.

"He wants me to be an example to Alexei," he answered.

"What? How? Why?" I was especially curious about the "Why?"

"Alexei has some vandalism on his conscience. And a few robberies," Eric said as if he`d told me Alexei had stolen apples from the neighbor`s yard. "Apparently he`s broken into his school and caused damages for several million rubles."

"What? How can you help him?"

"I guess Appius felt I would be a good influence. Another kid he straightened out." Eric shrugged.

A shiver ran down my back. "But he…" I began to say. This was wrong on so many levels.

"I know," Eric replied and looked down. "He`s promised Alexei`s dad to get the kid back on track so he can take over the family business one day." Eric paused. "Appius is desperate, I think, or he wouldn`t have come here."

"Are you going to help?" I asked.

"I have to. Appius can…" He stopped. Then he looked me in the eyes. "And I feel sorry for the kid too. He`s had a tough life."

"Poor little, rich kid," I mumbled.

"Yeah," Eric said, his voice thick. Then I realized that this had been Eric when he was a kid.

"Were you like Alexei?"

Eric nodded. "My mother sent me to Appius for a reason."

"And Appius…" I couldn`t finish my sentence but Eric nodded again. "Is he doing the same to Alexei?" I whispered.

"He swears he isn`t. That he learned his lesson when he saw the pain he caused me." Eric`s voice was without emotion which usually meant it was something he felt very strongly about. I couldn`t ask Eric if he believed Appius so I just nodded.

Eric pulled me closer. "They have separate bedrooms," he whispered. "And I sleep with my door open to be sure Alexei is safe."

When I came back to my own office, I immediately googled Alexei Alexandrovitch and his father Nikolay. Poor little, rich kid indeed. Alexei`s parents had had a messy divorce a year back and were still fighting over custody of Alexei. Alexei`s mother had won, which surprised me since his father was the one who had sent Alexei to Appius.

There was nothing about vandalism or robbery online but the few minutes I`d spent in the kid`s company had told me he wasn`t exactly a poster boy for mental stability.

And his father had trusted Appius. Just like Eric`s mother had.

Every morning I saw Eric at work and every evening he called me.

I couldn`t be with Eric at night because he didn`t want me in the same apartment as the man he despised. I hated the thought of Eric being there but he said he didn`t have any choice and I accepted that.

Eric didn`t tell me much about Appius and almost nothing about Alexei but he looked like a prisoner on death row every afternoon when he went home from work. And every time I saw him going home with that sullen look, I wanted to shout at him that he should just throw out Appius. It wouldn`t help Alexei, of course, because Appius would bring him with him.

But I hated the situation Eric was in. I wanted to do something but didn`t know what. So I trusted Eric`s judgment instead.

On the third day of their visit Appius and Alexei came to work with Eric, something that made Eric look even more worried.

Appius stopped by my office and gave me a smile that never reached his eyes. Alexei`s smile was a bit more sincere.

"My boy here speaks so well of you," Appius said. "He enjoyed that you told him to ask Eric for a cup of cocoa."

Appius` words may have been nice but his eyes told me to butt out. That no one but him was to tell Alexei what to do. Or be kind to him.

"Did he put whipped cream in your cocoa, Alexei?" I asked the boy.

Alexei nodded slowly, but his smile gave away that the cocoa had been a very special treat for him.

Appius pulled Alexei with him to Eric`s office and soon all three of them left the building together. It pained me to see Eric`s body language. But I did notice that Appius was no longer touching Alexei. Eric had his arm around Alexei`s shoulder in a very demonstrative way. "Your big brother is looking out for you," it said.

This was one messy situation and for the first time since I`d come to Norway I regretted that I hadn`t learned more about my new country. One thing was not knowing the number to the police when someone was breaking into my room (I knew it now, though), but who would I call if I was worried about a teenager? What kind of child services did they have here in Norway?

And what could I tell them? "My husband was abused by that man so many years ago and now I fear for a kid I don`t know." How could I say that? And how could I not?

Could I trust Eric`s decisions when it came to Appius?

Pam did her best to cheer me up that evening and I fell asleep hoping Appius would leave soon. I knew that was a cheap solution because it wouldn`t help Alexei one bit.

The next morning I was up early and went to work after a quick shower and a cup of coffee. I wanted to see Eric and hoped he was early too. To my disappointment his office was empty.

I started checking the statistics for the website – a boring job, but perfect for my current mood. I found that our new campaign wasn`t giving us the sales we had hoped for so I dug into that problem, thinking only about that for a while.

I`d been working on this for well over three hours when I looked up and realized that Eric wasn`t in yet. I checked my watch and saw that it was past 10. I`d already checked to see if Eric had any meetings today and he didn`t.

I gave him another hour and then I called his cell phone. My heart was heavy when he didn`t answer my call. Eric always answered his phone if he could. I rang the phone at home but there wasn`t any answer there either.

The rest of the day went by in a blur, my thoughts were on Eric and why he wasn`t answering the calls I`d placed to his phone every fifteen minutes. After lunch I decided to go home just to make sure Eric was fine.

I don`t believe in premonitions but I had a terrible feeling. I just hoped my trust in Eric hadn`t been entirely misplaced.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope you liked this chapter, creepy godfathers, cliffhangers and all.

Is indoor bandy, or a related sport, known in your country? It`s amazing exercise – though I`m more dead than alive after each game. It`s huge in Sweden and is growing fast here in Norway.

We are setting new records here these days in the number of people who`ve broken arms and legs on the ice. It`s very slippery and I myself took a tumble down our stairs and was knocked blue and yellow. I`m sure Norway wasn`t meant to be a place for people to live…

**And to the pimping:**

I`ve taken SVM home to where I live. Now is your chance to do the same. **The Home Sweet Home contest** that the lovely **Suki59** and I are running is waiting for your entry:

**www . fanfiction . net/u/2623209/HomeSweetHome** (remove spaces)

I`m also writing another story. It`s called **Dust Bunnies and Christmas Presents**. It started out as a one-shot a little over a year ago and is about 39 year old Sookie who comes to Scandinavia to surprise her husband Bill, only to find him between the legs of another woman. 26 year old Eric finds her - and in return she finds him. The one-shot won the **Naughty or Nice Contest** and got a pretty banner made by **Zigster.** Please check my profile to see it.

Now I`ve expanded the story and Eric is currently in New York where Sookie lives. Here is the story:

**www . fanfiction . net/s/5662018/1/Dust_Bunnies_and_Christmas_Presents** (remove spaces)


	45. Chapter 45

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 45**

**A/N:**

*Looks down in shame* - yes, it`s been months since the last chapter of this story. But it hasn`t been abandoned and I`ve already written a couple of more chapters that I will post as soon as I`ve written them all.

I want to thank all the old readers for being patient and welcome all the new ones. Dead without a Work Permit has had a lot of new subscribers these past weeks – and each and every one of them have made my day!

I also want to thank **Rascalthemutant** for being such a great beta and I want to wish her good luck with her exams – and her future choices. And give her laptop a good kick for giving her a hard time.

* * *

**Chapter 45**

I rang the doorbell to Eric`s house – no, our house. I chastised myself. For some reason I had gone back to thinking about it as his house. And the fact was that it didn`t feel like my house right now. Not when I felt the need to ring the doorbell before I entered.

What was I afraid of? What did I expect to see?

I didn`t like those questions but they popped up in my head. Had I left a kid – Alexei – to his destiny and looked the other way? Had Eric?

When there was no answer, I pushed my key into the keyhole. I heard the lock snap open and pressed down the door handle very slowly. Why was I this nervous?

The answer came quickly. When I opened the door I heard Eric yell, "Run, Sookie! Run!"

Then there was a loud bang that could only be a gun that was being fired, a lot of noises and men cursing and then – before I could run like Eric had shouted at me to – I was staring at a gun held in the hand of a man I didn`t know.

"Get in here and close the door," the man hissed. He spoke English and sounded British.

He was tall, pale and looked very angry. No, disturbed. He looked like he wasn`t really there, mentally. I swallowed hard and looked at the gun again.

I closed the door and couldn`t help feeling like I was sealing my own grave. I didn`t lock the door, though. I wanted to be able to get out fast if I ever had the opportunity to.

"Come here," the man said.

He was standing in the doorway to the living room waving his gun back and forth between me and whoever he had there. I knew Eric was in the living room since he had yelled at me when I had opened the door. I also knew the gun had been fired in his direction and feared the worst.

It was like a trip down death row on my way to the electric chair when I walked towards the living room. I thought I heard a voice whispering "Dead man walking," but then my senses were in overdrive.

I was relieved to see Eric sitting on the couch, but worried when I saw his left shoulder bleeding and his right hand trying to remove pieces of his shirt from the wound. He was in deep pain, judging from his facial expression.

Appius and Alexei were there too, both of them sitting on the other couch. Alexei was smiling, which I found odd. Appius looked at me with big eyes, his face stiff and without emotions. That could be because of all the skin he`d had pulled behind his ears to look youthful, but I suspected it was more because of the man waving the gun. None of them were helping Eric and I figured they were both in some kind of shock. I felt sorry for Alexei for having to go through this on top of whatever else he`d had to endure with his parents and Appius. I did not feel sorry for Appius. Not in the slightest. My only regret was that he wasn`t the one with a hole in his shoulder. Or in his heart.

I sat down next to Eric and gave his wound a quick look. It didn`t seem like a deep wound and even if there was a lot of blood, it didn`t pour the way it would have if the bullet had hit a major artery. I had just started helping Eric with the removal of the little pieces of cloth from the shirt when the man with the gun stomped his feet. I looked at him and realized that I had completely zoned him out in my attempts at helping Eric.

"What`s going on?" I whispered to Eric who shrugged and in the same moment pain rolled over his face when one of the shoulders he`d shrugged with was the hurt one.

"Look at me, bitch," the man with the gun shouted. "I`m the one who`s going to kill you so you`d bloody well pay me some attention."

I did what I was told and turned my head in his direction. I had no idea who the man was or why he was going to kill me, but I suspected it had something to do with Niall. Or rather, his enemies. I didn`t know that many British people.

"This is for Claudine," he shouted and aimed his gun at me.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Alexei moving but I couldn`t see what he was doing.

"Claudine?" I croaked and made sure the man`s attention was on me, not on whatever Alexei was doing. How could this be related to Claudine?

The man narrowed his eyes. "You killed Claudine and you killed our child."

"Claudine is dead?" I asked, feeling a wave of sadness wash over me.

"I should know, shouldn`t I? I`m her husband Colman." He glared at me. "This is how little you cared about her. You didn`t even know she was dead. She killed herself after she lost our child, protecting you and your grandfather fired her and made sure she would never work again."

"No," I whispered, not believing what he`d said. Claudine had been so strong, so capable. She wouldn`t have killed herself, surely.

A weird laughter came from his mouth but he didn`t look amused. His hands went to his eyes, wiping them quickly. Was he crying?

Suddenly Alexei pushed Appius into an upright position and then forward. Colman blinked twice and then he fired at the man he must have thought was attacking him.

I ducked down on the floor, pushing Eric with me. He was surprisingly stiff and I had to pull hard at his wounded arm to make him move. What was wrong with him? It was as if he was paralyzed.

Then I heard a lot of commotion, the front door being kicked open, feet running down the corridor, more shooting and a body dropping to the ground. Or at least that was what it sounded like.

"Get up, hands where we can see them," a loud voice shouted.

I dared to peak up from the floor and to my surprise the living room was filled with police officers. Colman was on the floor and so was Appius. Alexei had his hands over his head but his face had a grin that looked scary more than happy.

"This is the police. Get up slowly," the voice shouted again.

I held my hands up and slowly got up on my knees. Eric held up one arm but he had the other one in front of him as to show the police officers that he wasn`t carrying any weapons.

"We`re unarmed," I said. I didn`t want to be shot in the commotion.

"Sookie Stackhouse?" the voice shouted back at me.

"Yes?"

"You`re under arrest," he said.

The police officer looked around. When his eyes found Appius on the couch, he shouted, "Appius Livius Ocella?"

Appius grunted something the police officer took as a yes.

"You`re under arrest."

Then he looked at Eric. "Eric Northman?"

Eric nodded.

"You`re under arrest."

I looked at Alexei, half expecting him to be arrested too, but he wasn`t. Instead a woman wearing plain clothes came over and put her arm around his shoulders. Alexei was slender and he drowned in the woman`s embrace.

She began to pull him towards the door. Just as he left the room, he turned his head and looked at me. His lips moved but it didn`t look as if he was saying anything. Not with a voice, at least. But his lips made very clear "I`m sorry."

People in white stormed the room and soon Appius was on a stretcher. He was clutching his stomach and looked like he was in deep pain. I couldn`t help smiling at that. Not a big grin, just my lips curling a little bit. At least Appius was out of our house now.

Unfortunately, so were Eric and I. A paramedic had bandaged Eric`s shoulder and before I could say anything to him, Eric was walking out between the paramedic and a police officer.

"Come with me," a female officer said and grabbed my upper arm.

It wasn`t until I was down at the police station it occurred to me that I had never been presented with any charges. And no one had read me my rights. Did that mean I didn`t have any?

The female officer put me into a holding cell and closed the door. What was happening here? Why was I being arrested? Could I ask for a lawyer? How was I to know? No one had told me.

I looked around in the cell. It was three walls, a huge door on the fourth wall, a mattress on the floor and a hole in the ground for any urgent needs. It smelled from detergents and fear. Only, the fear may have been my own.

The mattress didn`t look inviting but I sat down on it anyway. I needed to think. To understand what had happened. I`d seen a dead man because I was pretty sure Colman had died. And Appius didn`t look too good. Eric wasn`t too badly wounded but there had been something about him. Shock, perhaps?

I rubbed my face. And now I was in jail? Well, a holding cell, but still. This just wasn`t right. How could I be in jail? I hadn`t done anything apart from almost being killed. Surely this wasn`t a crime in this weird country? I needed to know more. I needed to know why I was here.

I got up and took the two steps over to the door and started knocking on it. I felt vaguely like Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory when he knocks on Penny`s door. I stifled a giggle at the thought. It was obvious that Eric wasn`t the only one in shock.

The door opened and the police officer who had arrested me smiled and nodded for me to follow her.

We went to an interview room that looked bright and didn`t have any one-way mirrors like they always do on television. The furniture was typical Scandinavian. Birch- or beech, I couldn`t tell. And it wasn`t important. I needed to know what I was arrested for, not what trees that had been chopped down to make police furniture.

"Can I get you some coffee or tea?" she asked after I`d sat down at the table.

"No, thank you," I answered though by brain shouted for coffee.

She walked out the door and came back five minutes later with one cup of coffee (my brain blamed me because she wasn`t carrying two) and a folder. She sat down the cup on the table and opened the folder.

"What are your relations to Alexei Alexandrovitch?" she asked and looked at me.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Why am I arrested?"

There was a knock on the door and she went to open it. A large man with dark hair walked in. The police officer smiled and looked at me.

"This is your attorney, Mr. Cataliades," she said and the man walked over to me, his hand extended.

I shook his hand and looked back at the police officer. Why hadn`t she introduced herself?

"I never asked for an attorney," I said.

"No, Mr. Cataliades is appointed to you. If you want your own attorney, it`s no problem. We can call him or her for you."

I looked at Mr. Cataliades and figured he would do for now.

"No, that`s fine," I said. "But why am I arrested?"

The police officer smiled as if this was a talk about a parking ticket.

"You`re arrested for the abduction of Alexei Alexandrovitch."

My heart stood still for a few moments, then sweat broke out in my neck.

"I`m what?" I asked – my voice not really my own.

"Arrested for the abduction of Alexei Alexandrovitch," she repeated as if it was the lack of hearing that had made me ask her "I`m what?".

"But I never …" I started out.

"Oh, we know that … " she looked at her papers. "That Appius Livius Ocella abducted Alexei Alexandrovitch and brought him to your house but you`re an accomplice if you helped hiding him."

"But I never knew he was abducted," I said. "He told me himself that his father had sent him to Appius … to Mr. Ocella."

"Yes, but his father did not have the right to do so. Alexei Alexandrovitch`s mother had custody over the child and has alerted Interpol through the Russian police. When we were alerted that the child was here in Norway, in your house, we moved quickly." The police officer kept smiling.

"Who alerted you that this child was in Ms. Stackhouse`s house?" Mr. Cataliades asked.

The police officer checked her papers again. "We were alerted by British police, actually. Two officers followed … Mr. Colman to Norway and when he went to your house, they followed him there. It seems Mr. Colman had your house under watch for some time, giving the British police officers time to find out who your two guests were. When they found that Alexei Alexandrovitch was a missing child, they immediately alerted the Norwegian police."

"It couldn`t have been that immediately. I understand that Mr. Colman held Mr. Northman and his two guests at gun point all day – waiting for Ms. Stackhouse to come home." Mr. Cataliades looked relaxed but there was accusation in his voice.

I thought I detected a faint blush in the police officer`s cheeks. She coughed. "They did alert us immediately."

"Why the delay then?" Mr. Cataliades asked.

I looked from one to the other. I was the one under arrest but the police officer was the one defending herself.

"We thought it was just a child custody case until they alerted us again, telling us there were guns involved."

"Just a child custody case? And yet you`ve chosen to arrest Ms. Stackhouse for that same child custody case?" Mr. Cataliades was relentless.

"We arrested everyone in that house until we had the testimony from Alexei Alexandrovitch." The police officer straightened up and squared her shoulders. Even her smile was gone now. "And now I want to know what took place there. A man was shot and two men wounded. I need all the details. Why was Alexei Alexandrovitch in your home in the first place?"

I leaned back in my chair. If I`d only known the answer to that question.

I`d given the Norwegian police a thorough account of what I knew about Alexei, Appius and Colman – or Mr. Colman. I wasn`t sure if Colman was his first or his last name. The Norwegian police seemed to think it was his last name but he`d introduced himself to me as if it was his given name. Maybe he was like Cher or Madonna and only had one name?

"Would you mind talking to the British police too?" the Norwegian police officer asked. "They have no jurisdiction here but you can talk to them as a private person."

"Is Ms. Stackhouse still under arrest?" Mr. Cataliades asked.

"No, I see no reason to keep her under arrest," the police office answered.

Mr. Cataliades nodded to me as to give me the go-ahead to talk to the British police. But I was tired. I wanted to go home. And I wanted to know how Eric was and what had happened to him.

"No, I would like to leave now, if I can," I said.

The police officer looked surprised, as if talking to the British police would be every girl`s dream.

"Very well," she said. "I`ll have a car drive you home."

"Don`t worry. I`ll just walk." The police station wasn`t far from our house and the fresh air would do me good. If Eric was done too, I could walk with him.

"Where is Eric?" I asked the police officer on my way down the long corridor of the police station.

"He`s at the hospital," the police officer said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. How that woman could smile so much and so often and at entirely inappropriate places.

"But the wound wasn`t that deep?" I said.

"No, you misunderstand. He had some kind of nervous breakdown. They had to sedate him."

Then she walked away and left me standing there.

"Ms. Stackhouse?" a voice asked in English from behind me.

I turned around and saw two familiar faces. Tom Lattesta and Sara Weiss – the two British police officers who had interrogated me when I was at the hospital in London. The two police officers who had wanted to know everything about Niall. The two police officers I hadn`t wanted to talk to back then.

I walked out the door of the police station.

* * *

**A/N: **

Thank you for reading this story. I hope you liked the chapter.

Since I posted the last chapter of Dead without a Work Permit, I`ve written two one-shots. A very dystopian and sad one from Eric`s vampire "youth" called **Crossing the Ocean** and a lighter and rather romantic all human story about Eric the black metal-loving doctor and Sookie the baker who fancies the customer visiting her bakery every day at ten. It`s called **The Mammogram** since this is how Eric gets to check out Sookie`s breasts. Yes, it`s a silly little tale :-)

Check my profile to find them!


	46. Chapter 46

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 46**

**A/N:**

Shock of all shocks. This story was not abandoned. As a matter of fact I`ve finished it and will hopefully be posting regularly from now on.

I`m so amazed with all the reviews and PMs I`ve had from you while this story was hibernating. The story hit 2000 reviews – my second story to do so. I`m so very proud and grateful!

But I`m also a bit nervous. I`m trying to follow the books and I know some of you are annoyed with Eric`s behavior in the last book(s). Well, you`ll probably be annoyed here as well. I must admit that I like how Charlaine Harris writes Eric. He is not the perfect romance hero but a man with flaws. That makes him so much more interesting.

I want to thank **Suki59** for betaing this story on top of the betaing she`s doing on Dust Bunnies and Christmas Presents. I`m so glad you`re doing this, Suki!

I own nothing. **Charlaine Harris** wrote this wonderful tales with vampires and telepaths. I only took them home with me and made them human.

* * *

**From the previous chapter: **

_I`d given the Norwegian police a thorough account of what I knew about Alexei, Appius and Colman – or Mr. Colman. I wasn`t sure if Colman was his first or his last name. The Norwegian police seemed to think it was his last name but he`d introduced himself to me as if it was his given name. Maybe he was like Cher or Madonna and only had one name?_

_"Would you mind talking to the British police too?" the Norwegian police officer asked. "They have no jurisdiction here but you can talk to them as private persons."_

_"Is Ms. Stackhouse still under arrest?" Mr. Cataliades asked._

_"No, I see no reason to keep her under arrest," the police office answered._

_Mr. Cataliades nodded to me as to give me the go-ahead to talk to the British police. But I was tired. I wanted to go home. And I wanted to know how Eric was and what had happened to him._

_"No, I would like to leave now, if I can," I said._

_The police officer looked surprised, as if talking to the British police would be every girl`s dream. Maybe she`d watched too many British crime shows? They were on Norwegian television all the time. British crime shows and all the different versions of CSI. For a country with so few murders, the inhabitants seemed obsessed with gruesome deaths and troubled detectives._

_"Very well," she said. "I`ll have a car drive you home."_

_"Don`t worry. I`ll just walk." The police station wasn`t far from our house and the fresh air would do me good. If Eric was done too, I could walk with him._

_"Where is Eric?" I asked the police officer on my way down the long corridor of the police station._

_"He`s at the hospital," the police officer said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. How that woman could smile so much and so often and at entirely inappropriate places was beyond me. _

_"But the wound wasn`t that deep?" I said._

_"No, you misunderstand. He had some kind of nervous breakdown. They had to sedate him."_

_Then she walked away and left me standing there._

_"Ms. Stackhouse?" a voice asked in English from behind me._

_I turned around and saw two familiar faces. Tom Lattesta and Sara Weiss – the two British police officers that had interrogated me when I was at the hospital in London. The two police officers who had wanted to know everything about Niall. The two police officers I hadn`t wanted to talk to back then._

_I walked out the door of the police station._

* * *

**Chapter 46**

A call from Niall`s phone number came when I entered the house. It was almost as if he knew just the moment I walked in my door because that was the moment my phone started ringing.

"Hello?" I said while pulling off my boots and trying to get my coat off.

"Hello," a man said in a British accent. I stopped my undressing as British accents had been bad news lately. "My name is Claude Crane."

That made me stop. Claudine`s last name had been Crane.

"You`re …," I began but couldn`t find a way to ask if he was related to my former bodyguard – the woman who had been forced upon me but whom I`d come to like and now she was dead and the father of her child had been shot in the living room in which I was standing.

"Yes, I`m Claudine`s brother," he said. His voice wasn`t very emotional but I could detect an undercurrent that spoke of grief.

"I`m so sorry for your loss," I began.

"Sure," he said in a tone that told me that he didn`t want to talk about his sister. "I called you on behalf of your grandfather."

"My grandfather died many years ago," I said automatically.

"You know that`s not true."

I wanted to tell him that Niall Brigant was not my grandfather no matter what he claimed but this man was a stranger to me. So I just waited for what he had to say.

"Your grandfather wants to know if you are well," the man continued.

"A man was shot in my living room," I said.

"Yes, and Mr. Brigant is very sorry."

"Did he want anything else? I asked.

The man on the other end of the line was silent for a moment. "No, I think that was all he wanted."

"So he will leave me alone now?"

"You`ll have to ask him. I was supposed to check up on you and that`s what I`ve done."

And without another word he hung up on me.

I remembered Claudine as a very sweet person – especially considering her job. She must have used up all the nice-genes in the Crane family because Claude had been anything but nice and sweet. I just hoped he wasn`t planning on coming to Norway carrying a gun.

I had just put on the coffeemaker when the doorbell rang.

Pam was outside, but not sporting her usual smirk. Even her hair had lost its bounce.

"What happened?" I asked. Was something wrong with Eric? I had called Pam on my way home and she`d told me she was visiting him.

Pam looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

"You looked …." I stopped. How do you tell people they look terrible and that`s why you think something is wrong? "I just thought … "

Pam shrugged. "Well, it`s all a mess, isn`t it?" she said without elaborating.

"How was Eric?" I asked.

"Eric is Eric." She took off her coat and boots and put them in the closet.

"Can I get you some coffee?" I walked her into the living room.

"That would be great." Pam blew on her hands to get them warm again.

"Just sit down and I`ll get you a cup. It should be finished any minute now."

"Can I put on a fire in the fireplace?" she asked.

"That would be great, Pam," I said on my way to the kitchen.

When I came back with mugs and the coffee, Pam was on her knees in front of the fireplace and the fire was burning nice bright flames. She got up when she heard me and went to sit on the couch next to me.

I poured her a cup of coffee and handed it to her and then I poured one for myself. I sat back and looked at her. I could see that she had something on her mind so instead of starting some polite conversation, I waited for her to say what she`d come to say.

Finally she looked up and met my eyes.

"We`re friends, right, Sookie?"

I nodded. "Yes, we are."

"We would be friends even if you weren`t married to my brother, wouldn`t we?"

"I`m not sure we would have met if it hadn`t been for your brother," I said.

"No," Pam said. "But now that we`ve met. We would stay friends, wouldn`t we?"

"Pam. What has happened?"

Pam shook her head and then looked at me, waiting for me to answer her question.

"Yes, we would be friends, Pam. I like you."

That made Pam smile and I could see her relax her shoulders a little. "I like you too. I`m not really used to having friends, you know," she said. "Most of the women in my social circles are not very … friendly."

I laughed. Not because it was funny but I couldn`t help myself. "I like you, Pam," I said. "We`re friends."

Pam gave me a ghost of a smile and then she was quiet for awhile.

"Imagine that I was jealous of Eric`s going to Appius," she said.

I nodded. "You couldn`t know."

"But why didn`t he tell me?" Pam wasn`t really asking me.

"You were just a kid, Pam."

"He could have told me later on."

"Pam," I began, not really sure what words to use. I wanted to tell her to put her own hurt feelings aside when she interrupted me.

"And now he confides in me and I really don`t want to know."

"He`s told you about his visits to Appius?" I asked. How could Pam be almost offended he hadn`t told her and now she rejects him when he does?

Pam looked up. "What? No, not … " She shook her head. " I need to get home. Thanks for the coffee."

She got up, put on her boots and jacket and left. And I wondered what she had come for.

Eric had been at the hospital for well over a week – a week where I had had to deal with reporters in a frenzy (a man being shot in the apartment of a celebrity and hints of both child abuse AND mafia involvement was apparently the wet dream of several of the proud members of the Norwegian press corps and they all wanted "the exclusive"), Niall Brigant who didn`t realize that he`d done more than enough, thank you very much, and trying to make the police realize that they should focus more on Eric`s godfather than my very sick husband.

Alexei had been shipped back to his mother but before that he`d given testimony that made Eric out as a victim more than a victimizer. Still, the Norwegian police were not entirely convinced a grown man like Eric could accept a child abductor – and the child – into his home without being in on the crime and they kept interrogating me since Eric was incapacitated.

Several times during the police interviews I asked myself the same questions the police asked me. Why hadn`t I done something? Why hadn`t I stopped Eric`s godfather? Why hadn`t I gone to the police? But the most serious question I asked myself was whether the morals I had grown up with were slipping.

I had been taught Christian values and had been to church almost every Sunday when I was a kid. And now? I hadn`t been to church even once since I`d come to Norway. Not that going to church necessarily would have made me a better person but it felt as if I were losing myself even more than I was losing the god I believed in.

I'd changed in order to survive, and I was paying the price of survival.I had to be willing to change myself forever, or everything I'd mademyself do was for nothing.

I`d been to Norway three quarters of a year but it felt like a lifetime with everything that had happened. I`d run from one catastrophe to another and the only sure thing in my life had been the fact that I loved Eric.

I loved him, but he certainly hadn`t made my life easy.

It wasn`t just Alexei and Appius the police questioned me about. The Norwegian police had a dead man on their hands and I knew exactly when Tom Lattesta and Sara Weiss had told them about Niall because that was when they`d had another detective present. A detective from the organized crime unit.

Apart from spending most of my time at the police station I also visited Eric every day and tried to make up for his being away at the office. The days were getting longer and the snow was melting but I never saw the sun. I got up early in the mornings and wasn`t home until late in the evenings.

One week after the events in Eric`s apartment I was finally allowed to clean it enough for me to move back from Pam`s apartment and I was exhausted when I went to bed. Mentally as well as physically.

This was why when the phone rang, I dreamt of alarm clocks, burglar alarms and other things making ringing noises. Finally I woke up and picked up my cell phone from the night stand.

"Hello," I said while yawning.

"Sookie?" a familiar voice said.

"Bill?" I was suddenly wide awake.

"Did I wake you?" he asked.

I checked my watch. "It`s 2 a.m. here. Of course, you woke me."

"I have important news for you, Sookie," he said and I noticed how he never said he was sorry for waking me up.

He was quiet for a moment, apparently waiting for me to talk but when I didn`t say anything he continued.

"It`s Viking Games. Someone is trying to run Eric out of business."

"I`m listening," I said and I was. We had been experiencing a decline in sales the last month but I had assumed it was a normal decline a few months after the hype of a new game. And Eric and I had been too busy to really pay attention.

"Someone wants Viking Games gone," he continued.

"All our competitors want Viking Games to disappear," I objected.

"Yes, but this is personal. They`re making offers to every decent game programmer in the world and now they`ve come to me." Bill paused. "Have you lost employees lately?"

"No more than usual," I said but it wasn`t entirely true. We`d had a few of our best people quit on us lately.

"Well, they came to me and wanted me to work for them and they were very interested in any inside knowledge I might have about Viking Games."

"Who?"

"I know what the company is called, Sookie, but not who`s behind it. Does Eric have any enemies?"

I laughed. I was tired and someone had been killed in the next room just a week ago. Eric and I had enemies – no doubt about it. But who would want to bring down Viking Games?

"What was the name of that company?" I asked.

"Vampire Games," Bill said. "They are making a game that has all the cool details of Eric`s game but this is going to be even bloodier, even deadlier."

"But it won`t be out on the market until …."

Bill interrupted me. "That`s just the thing. There are huge bonuses if the game is up and running before summer and even bigger bonuses if Viking Games is bankrupt before Christmas."

"Oh," was all I could say. I was in PR. I didn`t know the first thing about programming a game. "Is it even possible to make a game that quickly?" I asked.

"If you have all the money in the world and don`t mind copying another game – Eric`s game – anything`s possible." Bill`s voice was louder now. "I`ll come over."

"Excuse me?"

"I`m coming over to help you."

"What? Why?" I asked. "And how do we know we can trust you?"

"A year ago you would have trusted me, Sookie," Bill said.

"Yes, and we both know what happened."

The line was quiet for a moment.

"I miss you, Sookie."

"You want to come over because you miss me?" I couldn`t believe what I was hearing.

"I want to come over for a lot of reasons but I also miss you."

"_Evig eies kun det tapte,_ Bill," I said.

"What does that mean?"

"You`ve lived here, Bill. You should know your Henrik Ibsen quotes." I thought for a moment. "It`s hard to translate directly but it means something like `You only own forever the things you`ve lost.`"

"I don`t get it," Bill said after awhile.

"I suppose it has several meanings. That you only appreciate things when you lose them, for instance," I explained.

"So I`ve lost you entirely." It wasn`t a question. It was a statement.

"I`m married to someone else. I don`t see how you could have lost me any more."

"And you love him?"

"Bill!" I said in a tone full of warning.

"Sorry," he said. "But I still want to help you. And maybe you aren`t lost entirely. Maybe we can be friends?"

I thought for a moment. Eric should be making this decision since it was his company but he was not capable of forming any decisions apart from what kind of cereal he wanted for breakfast and after today`s visit I doubted he even decided that on his own.

I sighed. "Come on over, Bill. If you can help us out, I will be very grateful. But don`t disappoint me now."

"I won`t," Bill said. "And Sookie … I`m sorry."

I knew what he was sorry for but I didn`t want to discuss it. Not now. And not ever.

"Goodbye, Bill."

"Goodbye."

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope you liked this chapter.


	47. Chapter 47

**Dead without a Work Permit – chapter 47**

**A/N:**

I`m so happy to see that this story wasn`t entirely forgotten in its hibernation. Thank you so much for all your reviews and comments to the last chapter. And it seems the story even got a few new subscribers.

I want to thank Suki59 for betaing this and for not losing patience when I make the same mistakes again and again. And again. You just can`t teach old dogs new tricks.

**Edit: I just added a missing paragraph**.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_"I miss you, Sookie."_

_"You want to come over because you miss me?" I couldn`t believe what I was hearing._

_"I want to come over for a lot of reasons but I also miss you."_

_"Evig eies kun det tapte, Bill," I said._

_"What does that mean?"_

_"You`ve lived here, Bill. You should know your Henrik Ibsen quotes." I thought for a moment. "It`s hard to translate directly but it means something like `You only own forever the things you`ve lost.`"_

_"I don`t get it," Bill said after awhile._

_"I suppose it has several meanings. That you only appreciate things when you lose them, for instance," I explained._

_"So I`ve lost you entirely." It wasn`t a question. It was a statement._

_"I`m married to someone else. I don`t see how you could have lost me any more."_

_"And you love him?"_

_"Bill!" I said in a tone full of warning._

_"Sorry," he said. "But I still want to help you. And maybe you aren`t lost entirely. Maybe we can be friends?"_

_I thought for a moment. Eric should be making this decision since it was his company but he was not capable of forming any decisions apart from what kind of cereal he wanted for breakfast and after today`s visit I doubted he even decided that on his own._

_I sighed. "Come on over, Bill. If you can help us out, I will be very grateful. But don`t disappoint me now."_

_"I won`t," Bill said. "And Sookie … I`m sorry."_

_I knew what he was sorry for but I didn`t want to discuss it. Not now. And not ever._

_"Goodbye, Bill."_

_"Goodbye."_

* * *

**Chapter 47**

Bill was surprisingly fast. The man who`d been stalling any kind of commitment to me managed to quit whatever job he had and come to Norway in only two days. It was with mixed feelings I opened the door to him. He`d been an important part of my life but apart from a few emails back and forth, always initiated by him, I hadn`t talked to him in months.

But I was happy that he was here to help us. In the two days since his phone call I`d had everyone at Viking Games look into his allegations and a few phone calls to our competitors and other people knowing the business, revealed that something big was underway. Someone was hiring the best game designers and programmers and Bill hadn`t been the only one hearing tales about how they – whoever they were – wanted to bring down Viking Games.

"Sookie!" he said in that deep voice of his. He opened his arms for a hug and I decided to give him that hug. I found that I had missed the friendship Bill and I had had.

"How was the flight?" I asked.

"Awful, as they always are. And I could only get a tourist visa on this short notice so I can`t stay for more than three months and any work I do must be more of a favor than real work."

"So you can work but we can`t pay you?" I asked with a smile. "Who would have known that the Norwegian Immigration would help us save money?"

I looked at him and noticed that he was only carrying his computer bag.

"Where are your things?"

"They`re still in the taxi." He pointed at a car waiting in the street. "Oslo Taxi" the white sign said on the roof of it.

"Why?" I asked and then I realized. "Go get your things, Bill. You`re staying here."

One of his rare smiles cracked his face. "I wasn`t sure," he said and then he turned around and ran down, retrieved his luggage and paid the taxi driver.

Back inside I had him put his things in the guest room and then I made him lunch. We talked and laughed during lunch and it was almost like in the old days. No, it was better because Bill was nicer – sweeter somehow – and I was not that little puppy-dog so in love with him I couldn`t see his flaws. We were two adults – two friends – having a great conversation.

"This was a great meal, Sookie. So much better than the ones I`m used to." Bill patted his stomach and then he couldn`t hide a yawn.

"I`m glad I can compete with macaroni and cheese, Bill," I teased him. "But right now you need to sleep. Knowing you, you were up all night on the plane, hitting those keys on your laptop keyboard."

Bill smiled. "And I lost seven hours on the way too."

"Right. So off to bed and we`ll talk more later."

Eric looked gloomy when I visited him at the hospital after having made sure Bill had a key to the house if he needed to go out before I came back. My heart ached for Eric, knowing what he`d been through and what memories Appius` visit had stirred.

But then my heart ached for myself as well, not to mention for Alexei with the troubled childhood and Colman who`d died in his attempts at getting revenge.

We were a sorry lot. And all because of a few rich men – Appius and Niall in particular – and their twisted ways of viewing the world.

"How are you?" I asked Eric and gave him a kiss.

He shrugged.

"Has Pam been around today?"

"She just left." Eric looked away for some reason.

"What`s wrong?" I thought of Pam`s visit and how she had been almost offended that Eric hadn`t confided in her before. "Did you argue?"

"What? Why do you ask?" His blue eyes were suddenly very awake.

It was my turn to shrug.

"So you`re coming home in a few days?"

Eric nodded.

"I`m looking forward to it," I said, smiling.

That brought a smile to Eric`s lips. "Me too." He got up and walked over to me and then he pulled me into his embrace. He kissed me deeply and in that kiss I had my old Eric back. He pulled back and looked at me. "The first thing I`ll do when I get home is …, " and he whispered his suggestion into my ear, making me blush like a teenager. "And damned the rest of the world," he declared.

The rest of the world may be damned but it was there all the same. I drove straight from the hospital to Viking Games and found everyone in a frenzy.

"A company called Vampire Games issued a press statement," Thalia, a fairly new recruit from Greece said as she was running by me.

"What?" I stopped her. She had that sulky look that always unnerved me but she was one of our best game designers and I had a lot of respect for her achievements.

"They`ll release their game on May 17th," she said and kept running.

I checked my watch for the date and noticed this was April first. Was it some kind of April fool? Did they even celebrate April fools here?

I pulled out my phone from my purse and called Bill, hoping he`d gotten the sleep he needed. I was a bit embarrassed to hear a very sleepy Bill answer the phone but told myself it was an emergency.

"Can you be at the office in half an hour? I need to talk to everyone and I want you here."

One of the reasons for wanting Bill there was to make sure he shared his knowledge with everyone but I also wanted to be the one introducing him to the people who had been his coworkers and were now his coworkers again. He was considered a traitor and worse for abandoning Viking Games last summer and would not be welcomed back without my endorsement. And maybe not even then.

I looked out of the window while waiting for Bill and was amazed to see the snow gone and tulips and grass growing instead. When had that happened? The sun was hot against the window but I knew there was a cold wind outside. Still, it felt as if this country had no spring – only winter and summer. And that it had jumped from one to the other while Eric was in the hospital.

I knew the moment Bill walked in the door. Not because I saw him or heard him but from the united gasp that came from everyone in the room.

I turned around and Bill stood there, handsome as ever. I thought about how he`d once had my heart beating fast and now he was just another man.

No, not just another man. He was a friend, I reminded myself, and he might be our best card in the trouble we had waiting for us.

"Listen up," I said in a loud voice and everyone turned in my direction. "I want to call a meeting in the conference room. And I want everyone to be there in five minutes."

And with that I went to fetch myself a cup of coffee and when I turned around, Bill was next to me, waiting with an empty cup. I poured him a cup too and we went silently to meet everyone at Viking Games. Everyone but Eric.

I took a deep breath. I wasn`t the manager or owner of Viking Games but I knew they would listen to me anyway. Partly because I`d earned their respect these past months but I knew it was mainly because of who I was married to. When Eric wasn`t there, I was the blonde substituting the blond.

"You`ve probably all heard about the press release saying we will have a new competitor on May 17th. What some of you might not know is that this competitor has decided to make it personal. They want our blood and they want us dead."

I heard someone snicker and was surprised to see it was Thalia. I didn`t know she had any facial expressions other than sour, surly or just plain bored.

"What`s funny?" I asked.

"They want our blood," she said.

"Yes?"

"It`s a vampire game. Get it?" She giggled. I figured Thalia`s giggling was like seeing pigs fly or the big guy down below making himself a snowman.

Several people laughed with her and I smiled too but mainly because it was nice to see Thalia laugh. And upsetting, somehow.

"They are going to release the game on May 17th and that means we have … "

"Did you say May 17th?" I was interrupted by Quinn, the receptionist.

"Yes."

"But … " He looked confused. "But that`s our national day," he said, blushing because he had everyone`s eyes on him.

I looked around and the other Norwegians – Viking Games didn`t have that many – nodded.

"So?" I asked. "It just means that Vampire Games is not a Norwegian company?"

"No," a voice said. I turned and saw Indira, a Norwegian programmer with Indian parents, gesture that she wanted to speak. I nodded at her. "They know how important the 17th of May is to us. They are mocking us with this release date. The 17th of May is very special."

"What happens on the 17th of May?" I asked.

"All the children walk through Oslo in their national costumes and when they reach the royal castle, the king greets them. And then we celebrate the day with our family or at large gatherings at the schools. It`s a huge day."

A cacophony of voices discussing the news rose – Norwegians explaining the insult that this apparently was and everyone shouting out suggestions as to what we could do. Then Bill got up and they all became quiet. Not out of respect, because it was clear that no one respected him, or even liked him. People folded their arms over their chests and I even heard a few snorts and huffs.

"They asked me to come work for them," Bill said.

"They asked everyone to come work for them, Bill," Thalia said. "You`re not special."

Bill smiled. "No, I realize that, but what I was going to say was that I`m going to accept the job."

If people had been talking loudly before, they were shouting now. The Bill-dislike turned into outright hatred. Bill just smiled one of those sad smiles I`d used to love. He didn`t do anything to stop people from shouting at him. When they finally realized he had more to say, the shouting died down and he continued.

"You need a mole there," he said and then he turned to me. "Can we go to your office?"

I nodded and walked towards my office, knowing he would follow me. I closed the door after him and saw everyone`s faces turned in our direction.

"What was that about, Bill?" I asked. "Is it smart to reveal that you`re going to be a mole in front of that many people?" I sat down behind my desk. "And really, Bill. A mole?"

Bill smiled.

"I`m the perfect guy for it. Everyone knows I`m not very popular here and my telling a story about wanting to get revenge … well, it wouldn`t be that hard to believe. If they know I was here – if anyone … " He nodded in the direction of the group gathered outside my office. "… tells them I`d said I was going to be a mole … I can just tell them I`m a counter-mole. That I`m making you believe I`m working for you."

I shook my head. "And how do I know you aren`t?"

Bill shrugged. "Would it make any difference? It`s not as if you`re going to tell me any secrets or anything. You`ll have everything to win and nothing to lose on this."

"But why would you tell everyone?" I asked.

Bill looked down and then at me.

"I want to come back and I want people to welcome me back. This way they`ll all know that I`m doing something extraordinary for Viking Games and they might just include me the way they used to." Bill got up and walked towards me. "I`ve missed .…" Then he stopped. "I`ve missed working here."

Bill started making enquiries immediately and before Eric was out of the hospital, Bill was on a plane to Berlin, Germany, where his new company had their headquarters.

I wished him good luck. And then I wished myself good luck on the choice of trusting Bill. I reminded myself that I had nothing to lose this time. He wasn`t my boyfriend and he didn`t have anything else he could betray me with. Or so I hoped.

But Eric was coming home and that was my main concern. I had missed him so very much but I was wary too. He`d been through a lot and needed my support. But I had been through a lot too. Watching a man getting shot is not something you easily erase from your brain.

I wasn`t sure I understood what grip Appius had on Eric. I wasn`t sure I would ever understand. But I understood there was something.

I also understood that I loved Eric and love was supposed to conquer all, right? My love had been slow in growth – or rather in realization. But then it had never had perfect conditions in which to grow. Now those conditions was worse than ever but I didn`t doubt that I loved Eric. It was actually one of few things I didn`t question these days.

So I drove to the hospital with a smile on my lips. It could never be a bad thing to get Eric back.

I drove up the long pebbled road to the hospital and was surprised to see that Pam was already out on the hospital steps, talking to Eric. I smiled to myself. I liked Pam and I knew she was a great support to her brother. She walked that fine line of being a support but also not agreeing with him on everything. She was honest with him and he definitely needed that, growing up in a family where honesty was rare.

But Eric didn`t always care for what Pam had to say and, judging from their facial expressions, this was one of the times where he did not like her opinions.

I drove closer and was surprised to see that there was actual anger in Eric`s face. It wasn`t just that he disliked what Pam had just told him. He was angry at Pam for saying it. Then Eric looked up, saw me in the car, said something to Pam and made a gesture that made it clear, even to me out of hearing distance, that he wanted Pam to leave.

I parked the car and walked over to them. Pam smiled a sad smile but Eric still looked angry. That wasn`t the welcome I had hoped for.

I just wanted my husband home. My husband. Not the angry man who`d shouted at his sister.

"What`s wrong?" I asked.

Pam glanced at Eric who just shrugged. Then he shook his head, huffed and his face transformed into the smile I had hoped for. Eric has a great smile and then and there it melted my heart. And the doubt that had been lurking.

He held out his arms and I ran towards him and jumped into his embrace. It was like coming home.

He hugged me tight and I hugged him tighter. Because of the difference of our height, I was a couple of inches above ground and Eric snuggled into my neck.

"I`ve missed you," he whispered and I knew it wasn`t that he thought it was a long time ago since I`d visited him. I`d visited him the day before. It was a long time ago we`d just been us. Eric and Sookie without a care in the world.

I turned my head and kissed his forehead. Then I kissed his mouth. And he kissed mine.

It was a deep kiss. A kiss filled with emotions. A kiss that told me that we would overcome anything.

I wanted to ask him how he was doing but right now I was content with kissing him. Appius, Alexei, Eric and Pam fighting – it could all wait. So could Bill going to work for our mysterious competitor. Eric and I were allowed to have a few moments in our own little world.

Or not.

Pam coughed. "You have to go, Eric."

I looked at him and he let my body slide down so I could stand on my own two feet.

"Go where?" I asked.

Eric`s smile was gone. "Victor`s in town. He requires my presence."

"Requires?" I asked. I only had one cousin, but she`d never required anything of me. Asked, perhaps. But never required.

"Yeah. He`s at the Grand Hotel."

Eric and I got into the car I`d driven to pick him up in and Pam walked over to her own car. And instead of going home and being just Eric and me, we went to the Grand Hotel to meet Eric`s obnoxious cousin, Victor.

The Grand Hotel is situated on Karl Johan, the main street of Oslo. It`s a beautiful old building and I`d always wanted to see more of it. But when we walked through the lobby, I found myself not that interested.

Eric, Pam and I took the elevator in silence. Victor, of course, had the largest suite and when we got out of the elevator we were met by two huge guys standing guard outside the suite. They knocked on the door when we had stated out business. From inside, another huge man opened the door and let us in.

If Victor had wanted to make us feel uncomfortable before we walked over the threshold, he`d certainly succeeded. Having a guy twice your size walking next to you does something to you. Even Eric, who was the same height as the guy walking us in, seemed skinny compared to the hormone-induced muscles the other guy carried. And very few people would normally call Eric skinny.

Victor was half lying, half sitting on the white couch in the middle of the suite. His wife wasn`t there but he`d made up for this by having a man and a woman on each arm. Victor`s hand was on the woman`s breast and the man was groping Victor`s groin. If they`d worn a little less clothes, I would have looked for cameras because this could have been the filming of an x-rated movie. Then I remembered that porn was illegal here in Norway, Then I remembered that porn was illegal here in Norway, or at least the filming of "organs in movement" (Eric had once laughingly explained to me how the law was worded). So Victor could be filming a legal Norwegian version of an x-rated movie.

If the muscle guys had made me feel slightly uncomfortable, Victor`s peep show finished the job.

"I thought I told you this was family business, Eric," Victor said with a lazy grin but without looking at either Pam or me.

"Pam and Sookie are family," Eric answered, his face chiseled stone.

"Pam is not my family. Pam is not a Northman." He paused, then his head turned very slowly until his eyes met mine. I`d heard stories about snakes hypnotizing their prey before they ate it and Victor`s eyes made me feel like a little mouse meeting her final hour. "And Sookie isn`t family at all. Not when she can`t produce an heir." He turned back to Eric. "I`m sorry for your loss."

Only, Victor wasn`t sorry at all. He was gloating. Eric having had a child would have made him a stronger candidate to take over Northman Enterprises. Only, that wasn`t what Eric wanted – not that Victor would ever believe that.

"Why are we here?" Eric spoke in an even tone. He was mad but did his best to contain his anger.

Victor kissed the woman who`d now crawled up on his lap. "Oh, why are you here? Do I have to have a reason to see my dear cousin?" he asked.

I looked at Eric and could see the muscles in his jaw clenching.

Victor pushed the woman on his lap aside. "But I have a reason, of course," he said. "I wanted to warn you, Eric. I`ve been seeing how much fun you`ve had with that little game company of yours so I started one too. And what do you know? I`ve hired some of the best people in the business. Even a couple of your people." Victor looked back at me. "I just got a phone call from Bill Compton. He was your old boyfriend, wasn`t he, Sookie? He wanted to work for me too."

A glance at Eric told me that it was a good thing that I`d never had time to tell him about Bill`s offer because the surprise and anger Eric showed now would have been an Oscar worthy achievement had he known about it beforehand. Victor`s grin told me how much he`d loved Eric`s surprise and I did my best to convince him that I was repulsed by Bill`s "betrayal" too.

"Was Bill the guy who raped her?" the woman asked Victor in a way that was too rehearsed to be anything but an act. And a poor one at that.

Victor arranged his features in a compassionate look that didn`t fit him. "Yes, he was," he replied. "You`ve had a tough year, Sookie," he said. "Eric has brought you a lot of bad luck."

I was about to answer when Eric grabbed my hand. "Goodbye, Victor," Eric said and turned around, ready to leave.

Victor got up. "Are you leaving already? You haven`t seen my suite. It`s the one Barack Obama stayed in when he received the Nobel Peace Prize. And Nelson Mandela and the Pope stayed here too. I do believe even Elvis slept in these rooms. I would offer you a drink, but you can`t drink, can you, Eric? I mean, you`re on antidepressants, aren`t you?"

"Fuck you, Victor," Eric shouted, and with me in tow, he walked out of the suite. Pam was one step behind.

We took the elevator down in silence, got into the car and it wasn`t until we`d come home to our house and hung up the coat (me) or thrown the jacket on the floor (Eric) that Eric spoke. Pam had gone to her own apartment.

"Fuck!" Eric shouted, anger oozing from every inch of his body. He kicked the poor jacket on the floor.

I took his hand.

"Forget Victor," I said.

"What?" Eric looked at me as if he were surprised to see me there. "Oh, yeah." Then he pulled me into his arms. "Let`s fuck," he said.

Eric wasn`t usually this blunt and normally I wouldn`t have cared for it but I right now, with all the aggravation and frustration, I welcomed it.

"Yeah, let`s," I said, my voice much deeper.

Clothes were shed, buttons went flying and faster than one would have thought possible, we were naked on the floor next to the shoes, boots and the jacket Eric had kicked around.

We rolled around a few times, groping, grunting and not really sure who was to be on top and which limbs were going where but then Eric sat up, supported by the wall and I was on top of him.

Eric`s large hands were on my hips and butt and pulling me down onto him. The feeling of having him inside me again made me say something I would rather not repeat in good company but it seemed to make Eric happy. He grinned and then he groaned and then he didn`t do much with his mouth apart from half-sucking/half-biting my left breast.

I rode Eric and Eric helped me ride him harder and faster. It was passion and frustration all mixed up in a very hot cocktail that Eric and I didn`t sip but gulped down so quickly we both lost our breath. But we still kept going.

And when my breath was completely gone, Eric rolled us over so that I was on my back, lifted my butt and pounded me deep and hard.

It was so good and so very intense and soon I was bucking in his hands, my orgasm washing over me. My moaning out my pleasure did something to Eric as well. He went even faster and even harder and then, with one last thrust, he said something that definitely wasn`t in the Norwegian vocabulary I`d learned – and Eric had taught me bedroom-Norwegian too – and fell down on top of me as if someone had hit him with a taser. He even had the same kind of shivers going through his body.

I, on the other hand, felt a kind of relaxation I hadn`t felt in a long time. With my hands on Eric`s sweaty back, and my legs around his waist, I felt as if I could absorb him. Absorb all his problems. As if we were one and everything was fine.

Life with Eric should be like this always. We should have this post-coital feeling forever. Apparently Eric felt the same way because we lay there for a long time. A very long time. But when I started shivering from being naked on the cold wooden floor, Eric pulled out, kissed the tip of my nose and helped me up.

Silently we went to the shower where he washed my hair and then I washed his. It wasn`t until I was drying my body with the soft towel I realized one could get rug burns even when the floor had no rugs.

I looked at my raw knees and then I looked at Eric`s. They were even worse than mine.

"Well worth it," Eric said with a grin. "I`d rub off the skin from most of my body for sex like that."

I nodded in agreement.

Eric handed me my bathrobe and then he opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed the band-aids. We went to the bedroom where he put band-aids on my knees and then I put band-aids on his. One could probably make this into a metaphor of our life – the pleasure and the pain we were going through together – but I was too tired.

I took off my bathrobe, crawled under the duvet and went to sleep. The last thing I felt was Eric`s arm around my waist. I`m sure I entered Dreamland with a smile on my face.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter will be up soon!


	48. Chapter 48

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 48**

**A/N:**

Again I just want to thank you for all your reviews and comments. And I share your feelings about Victor!

I also want to thank **Suki59** for not only betaing this baby but for all the other stories I keep throwing at her these days.

* * *

**From the previous chapter:**

_Life with Eric should be like this always. We should have this post-coital feeling forever. Apparently Eric felt the same way because we lay there for a long time. A very long time. But when I started shivering from being naked on the cold wooden floor, Eric pulled out, kissed the tip of my nose and helped me up._

_Silently we went to the shower where he washed my hair and then I washed his. It wasn`t until I was drying my body with the soft towel I realized one could get rug burns even when the floor had no rugs._

_I looked at my raw knees and then I looked at Eric`s. They were even worse than mine._

_"Well worth it," Eric said with a grin. "I`d rub off the skin from most of my body for sex like that."_

_I nodded in agreement._

_Eric handed me my bathrobe and then he opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed the band-aids. We went to the bedroom where he put band-aids on my knees and then I put band-aids on his. One could probably make this into a metaphor of our life – the pleasure and the pain we were going through together – but I was too tired._

_I took off my bathrobe, crawled under the duvet and went to sleep. The last thing I felt was Eric`s arm around my waist. I`m sure I entered Dreamland with a smile on my face._

* * *

**Chapter 48:**

Pam woke us up the next morning. Or rather, it wasn`t morning anymore. Or was it? I got confused now that the sun seemed to shine through the windows half an hour earlier each morning. I had hardly noticed it but now I had a ray of sun in my eyes and wondered how late Eric and I had slept.

Eric stumbled out of bed to open the door – apparently just as tired from the activities last night as I was. We may have fallen asleep pretty quickly, but we woke up a couple of times and re-consumated our marriage. If depression took away a person`s libido then Eric definitely wasn`t depressed. Not anymore, at least.

I went to bathroom to take a shower, figuring Eric would want some time alone with his sister. There was an unspoken quarrel in the air between the two siblings – at least unspoken while I was around. Sometimes you have to get it out in the open and I figured fifteen minutes by themselves would only do them good.

But when I was combing the wet tangles out of my hair after having gotten dressed, a loud noise – glass breaking - made me regret not joining them sooner. I ran to the living room, only to find them in the kitchen and broken plates and cups were all over the floor.

I looked at Eric. Had he gone crazy? Had he come home too early from the hospital?

Pam and Eric turned around and Pam actually managed to look guilty. And apologetic.

"We had a disagreement," she said.

"With the plates?" I asked, motioning at all the broken china on the floor.

"I tried to get through the thick skull of that husband of yours." She shrugged.

"With what? What are you arguing over?" I asked and this time I looked at Eric. He looked away as if I hadn`t addressed him at all.

Pam went to retrieve the dustpan and the broom and Eric wasn`t giving me any answers. I huffed in frustration and then I decided to change the subject.

"Sooo, Victor, huh?" I said, hoping just the mentioning of Eric`s cousin would start a conversation.

Eric went to the coffeemaker and put on a pot of coffee but when he opened the cupboard to find cups, he came up empty. They were all on the floor. In little pieces.

"Fuck," he said to himself. I wanted to go put my arm around his shoulder or comfort him somehow but I needed to know what this was about before I did. I had a bad feeling it had something to do with me. Why else wouldn`t they tell me what was wrong?

Pam came back and started sweeping the floor.

"Is it good to have your husband back?" she asked all of a sudden. It could have been just making conversation or teasing Eric but her tense shoulders told me otherwise.

"Well, yes. Of course," I replied.

"He is such a good husband, that brother of mine."

"Enough!" Eric hissed between clenched teeth.

I looked from Eric to Pam and watched Eric pouring coffee into a glass and Pam sweeping the floor. Eric poured another glass and handed it to me.

Coffee shops here in Oslo served their coffee in glasses but it was an impossible way to drink hot liquids. There was no way to hold the glass without burning your fingers. So I put my glass down.

"Will someone please tell me what`s going on?"

Pam had swept up most of the broken china and was emptying the dust pan. She worked as if in slow motion. Or maybe it just seemed so since she wasn`t answering my question. Eric was staring into his glass of coffee. If he were burning his hand, he showed no signs of it.

Then Pam set the dust pan down and put the broom against the kitchen counter.

"You`ll make a great stepmom , Sookie," she said and then she walked out of the kitchen.

"_I helvete heller, Pam!"_ Eric shouted. He had murder in his eyes as he watched his sister leave, but when he looked at me there was something else there. Remorse? Sadness? Resignation?

Then he walked out of the kitchen too, leaving me to my thoughts. What had Pam meant?

Eric and I worked hard in the days and weeks to come. I kept in contact with Bill and when he told us about Victor`s plans, I started contacting reporters I knew I could trust. I had built up a large network in all the major countries where we sold the game and now was the time to use it.

I didn`t tell anyone exactly what was going to happen. Only that they should buy a ticket to Norway and watch the Children`s Parade on the National Day. Some came up with excuses or wanted to know more before they would come – editors would not send out reporters unless they were sure they would bring back a major story. So I picked people I knew would have a personal interest in this – reporters who wrote about games, reporters who liked news with a twist and reporters who had a personal interest in going to Oslo. One German reporter had a mistress in Oslo and was thrilled to have an excuse to visit her in May.

It was phone call after phone call and in the evenings I was exhausted. Eric was driving everyone hard, pushing for a May release of an addition to the Viking game. Everyone seemed as eager as Eric and me so lights were on at the offices all day and all night.

Eric and I didn`t talk much. We`d never been the kind of couple that would have endless chats every night but now we were just too tired to talk about anything. We usually went to the office together and came home together. We ate our meals together, went to bed together and had sex the nights when we weren`t so beat that we both passed out the moment our heads hit the pillow.

Being exhausted also had its positive side. It meant that I didn`t think about Pam`s comment that often. And when I did, I figured there would be a natural explanation. Or at least I hoped there would.

And then there were those rare moments when I wasn`t exhausted and when I had time to think. Those were the moments where I wondered why Eric couldn`t just tell me what Pam had meant. Obviously there was something. Didn`t he trust me? And more mind-boggling was the question of whether he could trust me. The word stepmom suggested Eric had a child somewhere. A child he hadn`t known about or a child he just hadn`t told me about? How would I react when and if Eric ever decided to tell me what was behind his quarrel with Pam?

And as it always happened when I thought of this, my mind jumped to the child Eric and I weren`t going to have. I couldn`t help myself from imagining how large my belly would have been if I hadn`t lost the baby.

These were a string of thoughts I hated going into so whenever I thought of Eric and Pam quarreling, I made myself busy before my brain jumped over to that other child. And to whether Eric and I were ever going to have children. After all, my pregnancy hadn`t exactly been planned and now I was back on the pill.

Easter came and went. The only difference in my routine was the fact that Oslo was closed and everyone was gone. Apparently Norwegians take almost two weeks off from work at Easter time and they all go to their cabins in the mountains. Shops were closed and even the hard working people at Viking Games had taken time off.

Pam had invited me to join her at her cabin but it had too many memories of Eric and me so I had turned her down. But when the morning of Good Friday arrived, Eric got up, took a deep breath and said that he thought we needed some time off too and that he wanted us to visit Pam.

We packed in silence. I was silent because I didn`t know what to say. What to expect. Eric, because he probably couldn`t speak if he wanted to. His jaws were that tightly clenched.

I wanted to give him a hug. Kiss him and tell him it was going to be fine. But since I didn`t know what to expect at Pam`s cabin – which information Eric was finally letting me in on – I couldn`t do that. So Eric`s jaw stayed clenched and his shoulders stayed tense.

Pam came out to greet us in the deep snow. It was a wet kind of snow and the air was different from when Eric and I had been there the last time. It was warmer and the pine trees smelled … well, from pine. The last time there`d only been the smell of frost and snow.

"Welcome," Pam said. She was smiling but was as tense as her brother.

"Thank you," I said since Eric didn`t seem to want to give her a response. He pulled our bags from the car and started carrying them inside. It was getting late but not quite dark yet. The sky was dark blue and painted in orange where the sun had gone down.

"I have dinner ready for you," Pam said and walked inside behind her brother.

I grabbed the last bag and stepped inside too, dreading whatever this weekend would bring but also overwhelmed by the memories of what Eric and I had had in this cabin. We`d come a long way since we`d been here last. And that had only been six months ago.

Pam had set the table and when Eric and I had taken off boots and jackets, we sat down with her.

"It`s moose." She nodded at the steak on the table and my mouth watered immediately - a sure sign that I`d been in Norway a long time. I don`t think I would have welcomed a moose steak a year ago.

We`d eaten most of the "King of the forest" as moose was termed here when Pam broke the silence.

"So you`ve decided to tell her?" she asked her brother.

Eric exhaled and then he looked at me.

"I thought I could …." he started. "But I can`t."

"What?" Pam asked. "I thought you were going to tell her?"

"I was," Eric said. "I am. I didn`t mean that I wouldn`t tell her. I meant …. I thought I could make it go away. But I can`t. I got the letter yesterday."

I looked at Eric and then at Pam.

"What letter?" I asked.

"The letter saying that I have a son." The look in Eric`s eyes would haunt me forever. "He was born last month and the DNA test shows that I`m the boy`s father."

I couldn`t help myself and did a quick calculation. If the boy had been born last month, then he was conceived after I`d met Eric but before we`d .…

"Who`s the mother?" I asked.

Eric shook his head and Pam was the one to answer.

"Well, that`s just it. She`s some broad in Estonia that Eric has never met."

I barked out a laugh. "I may have missed some classes in school but I think you actually have to have sex to become a father."

The look Eric gave me was so full of pain, I stopped laughing.

"Not if Appius is your godfather," Eric said in a voice I didn`t recognize.

"What did he do?"

Eric looked away and again it was Pam who answered.

"Appius collected Eric`s sperm, apparently. Years ago. And now he used it. The girl`s parents are very rich and Appius thought she would be a perfect match for lover boy here. This was why Appius came to Norway. To inform Eric that he had to divorce you and marry Freyda."

"Freyda?"

"That`s the girl`s name."

I looked at Eric. "But you`re not the father. Not really. You`re the sperm donor and …." I stopped talking.

"I can`t let the kid grow up without a father, Sookie. I`m not that kind of a man."

I smiled because that was one of the things I liked about him.

"But that`s fine, Eric. I don`t mind. I mean, I have no idea about practicalities here, but we`ll work it out." I wanted to put my hand on his but the look on his face stopped me.

"I want it to be more than just the odd vacation, Sookie. I grew up without a father. I don`t want this kid to."

I wasn`t sure what he was saying but it made sense. And it made me respect him all the more. "I understand that, Eric. We`ll open our home to the kid. Don`t worry. I mean, it`s not like you`re going to marry … Freyda." I laughed at first but then I realized that it had been one of the options he`d considered. "Are you?"

Eric looked at me and then huffed as if to shake something off his shoulders. "No, of course not. I`m married to you. You`re the one I love. It`s just … I wanted you to be the mother of my children. All my children."

"Especially your firstborn and heir, huh?" Pam said.

I looked from one to the other.

"Yeah. Especially my firstborn," Eric said and for a moment I shared his pain.

I felt bad for Eric – and for myself too, to be honest – but I was glad that I knew the truth now. No more secrets being kept from me.

Or so I hoped.

* * *

**A/N:**

Eric had an exclamation in Norwegian in this chapter. What he said was not really important as I`m sure you all knew he was swearing. But if you`re interested then _I helvete heller_ is something you say when you`re very frustrated. It means "In Hell also" – which makes absolutely no sense, I`m sure.

I think I`ve talked about swearing in Scandinavia before but I wanted to add something because I`ve just read a new article about how swearing has changed over the years.

As I`ve probably already told you, there`s a major difference in the swearwords we use in Scandinavia and the swearwords used in English. In English it`s generally about what happens in the bathroom (shit) or what happens in the bed (fuck) and words associated with the human groin (dick, cunt).

Traditional Scandinavian swearwords – the swearwords I grew up with – are mainly about heaven or hell and whoever live there. Or they are about health related issues (in Danish there`s a swearword that means "cancer eat me").

Now this article I just read said that this is changing. Among young people the influence from English is so strong that we now also swear about bathroom or bedroom related issues. At first we just took the English swearwords – you`ll find plenty of Scandinavian kids yelling "motherfucker" without realizing what a harsh word that is – and used them as they were. But these last couple of years we`ve apparently evolved and have started translating the English swearwords. So now we don`t say "shit" anymore but "skit". Yeah, no big difference there.

So if you`re into swearing then you`ll feel right at home here now!

Thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you liked it.


	49. Chapter 49

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 49**

**A/N:**

Thank you so much for your reviews and comments. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment on this story.

I also want to thank **Suki59** for being such a great beta on this story. She is doing an amazing job.

* * *

**Chapter 49**

Eric and I spent the rest of the weekend skiing and throwing snowballs at each other. Which, when one looked back at it, was strange. Or maybe not. Maybe some of the snowballs I threw were about his not telling me important stuff and his considering, just for an unspoken moment, to be something for his child`s mother and not just for his child. I knew that those snowballs were the hardest I could make and they always hit him square in the face. I also knew that those were the snowballs that made Pam smirk.

And Eric seemed to welcome them for some odd reason. His snowballs rarely hit me very hard. He did manage to throw some at Pam who`d then declare herself out of the snowball fight.

Yeah, we`d been one small happy yet somewhat dysfunctional family at the cabin.

Back in Oslo it was work, work, work. But it felt gratifying now that we seemed to be going somewhere. April was running out but the game designers had outdone themselves, in spite of having taken time off for Easter. The additions to the game were amazing. You could have the Vikings going berserk. There were new enemies to fight and new characters to play. I especially liked the Shield Maiden who bore close resemblance to yours truly.

I was home alone, running the test version of the Shield Maiden on my laptop when the phone rang. I knew it was Bill before checking it. He always called at this hour and he`d been calling me more and more frequently now that the 17th of May was getting closer.

"I did it, Sookie," Bill said in a tone full of joy and satisfaction.

"Really?" I asked. "He fell for it?"

"He did. He loves Elvis, apparently, and when I suggested they all dress up as the vampire characters in the game, Victor was quick to claim the role of Elvis."

"That`s amazing, Bill," I said. "You`re … "

"Amazing?" he finished my sentence.

I smiled to myself. Having Bill back as my friend meant a lot to me. I just hoped I could trust him. "We`ll see on the 17th, won`t we?" I answered.

"We will, Sookie. On the 17th we`ll see Victor fall flat on his face and if you`ve been doing your job … "

"If?" Now it was my turn to interrupt.

"Well," he drawled. "Knowing you, you`ve done your job perfectly so _since_ you`ve been doing it so perfectly well, media from all over the world will catch him doing it."

"Victor has been helping me out," I said with a laugh. "Some of the reporters I called had already been summoned by his people. They weren`t too happy about it."

"Reporters don`t like to be summoned," Bill stated.

"They certainly don`t. They like to be asked politely or even feel intrigued to go somewhere."

"So which media are you sure will be there?" he asked.

I paused. The deal between Bill and me had been for him never to ask me questions. He had suggested it himself to absolve him of suspicions of being a counterspy.

"Sorry, Sookie. I forgot," he said before I could answer him.

We were quiet for a while. I could hear him breathe but there were several moments of silence. Then he spoke again.

"I`m glad to be back in your life, Sookie."

I thought it over. "Me too, Bill."

"I have to ask you something, Sookie, but I want you to promise me that you won`t get angry."

"I can`t promise you that, Bill. Not until I`ve heard your question." I hated it when people wanted you to make that kind of promise How could you know in advance whether you would be angry or not?

"Fair enough. But I have to ask." He exhaled so loudly I almost felt his breath on me through the phone. "Is there any reason why you`re the one handling me and not Eric?"

I thought about what he`d said, not really understanding what he meant. "Because I know you better, Bill," I said. "Why do you ask?" Then it hit me. "Oh, you thought … that I wanted to … "

"Yeah," Bill said sheepishly.

"Bill, I`m married to Eric. I intend to stay married to Eric. I`m not … Bill. You mean a lot to me and I am glad we`re back to … that we`re talking again. I don`t have many friends and I really appreciate your friendship. But … "

"I get it, Sookie. It`s fine. It was just … I guess, I hoped that …." He cleared his voice. "I guess I`m just feeling lonely."

"I`m sorry, Bill. I wish … " There were a lot of things I wished but not many of them included Bill. And I definitely didn`t wish him to be a romantic partner. "I`m looking forward to seeing you again," I said and we hung up.

"Fuck!" Eric shouted.

I turned around and looked at him. I couldn`t help smiling. He was wearing black woolen pants that ended at his knees and thick white woolen socks that went all the way down into black shoes with silver shoe buckles. On his torso he was wearing a white shirt with a scarf of many colors around his neck, a black and red striped vest and a black woolen jacket with a high collar. Add the top hat he was going to wear, he looked as if he`d jumped straight out of the 18th century. Or the 19th. I wasn`t sure.

He was wearing his _bunad_ – the national costume everyone wore on the 17th of May. Eric had told me there were several different _bunads_ and that they all had some kind of geographical origin.

"Let me," I said and took the _sølje_ – the large silver brooch he was supposed to wear – from him and put it on the scarf he was wearing.

Eric had his finger in his mouth, the finger he`d pricked on the brooch. But I knew his anger – his frustration – didn`t come from the little piece of jewelry.

Eric was nervous and so was I.

Pam had let me borrow one of her _bunads_ and I was struggling with all the layers of wool I was supposed to wear. I looked out at the sun.

"Won`t it be too warm?" I asked.

Eric grinned. "It will. Which is why the 17th of May is also called The Big Ice-cream Day." He pulled me into his embrace. "And when we get home, we`ll take a cold shower and then … "

He kissed me instead of finishing his sentence. Eric apparently subscribed to the "show, don`t tell" way of saying things.

I pushed at him. "You`re not helping. Now I`m even hotter."

"I have that effect on women," he said nonchalantly.

"On _women?_" I teased.

"On you," he said and then I got another hot kiss.

I pulled away. "Indeed you do. Now, make yourself useful and look at me. Have I put this dress on correctly? Added belts and jewelry where it`s supposed to be added?"

Eric looked at me from head to toe, giving my cleavage and the way the _bunad_ added to my feminine figure a whistle of approval.

"If I`d known you`d be this sexy in a _bunad_ I would have bought you one months ago."

"You`ll get to take it off tonight if everything goes well," I promised.

Eric grinned. Then he looked at his watch.

"We`d better get going."

We`d arranged to meet with a couple of reporters so that they could get firsthand reactions from us when Victor hopefully ruined his company and his reputation. It could go entirely wrong, though. Victor could get so much publicity, his game would sell itself. And there wouldn`t be anything we could do about it.

"Yeah," I said and took a deep breath.

But before I`d taken a single step Eric was in front of me and had his fingers under my chin and then his lips on mine.

"No matter what happens … with Victor or with … " He paused. "You know I love you, Sookie."

And then he kissed me again.

I had no idea what I`d expected from the Norwegian National Day but it was nothing like this. As soon as we walked out into the street I realized that this was so much bigger than I had imagined. I`d watched YouTube clips of the Children`s Parade and I knew most people would be wearing _bunads_ or at least their very best clothes.

But to see the streets so full of people – children, parents, young people, old people – it took my breath away. Everyone looked happy. It was like Christmas Eve and your birthday wrapped up together with balloons, sausages and ice cream – all of which were sold everywhere.

Kids were jumping up and down in anticipation and old couples walked arm in arm as if they`d fallen in love yesterday.

Our house was just behind the King`s Castle and when we rounded the corner of the Castle Park, I stopped breathing for a few moments. All along Karl Johan, the main street of Oslo leading up to the castle, people had gathered in the thousands. Since the castle is at the top of a hill, one could see the crowds all the way down past the old university and to the parliament.

The parade would begin in half an hour and Eric and I walked down to the University Square where today`s big event would take place if Bill was correct with his information.

We met up with a couple of reporters, a television crew and ten or fifteen photographers. Eric and I greeted them all and told them where they should situate themselves to get the best view. The Norwegian national television crew was there already but Eric had told me they were there every year. They were filming many places along the parade but in thirty minutes, they would be filming here on Oslo`s main street Karl Johan.

In half an hour the King`s guards would perform their amazing show – and this was when Victor would strike. And fail. Hopefully.

The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. The trees had just sprouted new leaves in that light green shade and all the flower beds were filled with tulips in all their majesty.

And I was standing here, nervous sweat running down my back, waiting for what could be the big difference for Viking Games. And for Eric and me. I also knew that we still had major issues to deal with when this was over, but if I had been able to push that aside these past weeks, then I certainly could today.

I chatted with the reporters and Eric filled them in on what they were watching. I couldn`t help smiling when he told them where all the different _bunads_ came from. Eric had told me it was a pastime for old ladies – learning the difference between all the various national dresses.

Then finally we saw them – the King`s Guards came up Karl Johan in their black uniforms, rifles with bayonets over their shoulders. Behind them, in the same uniforms, their marching band was playing.

Eric had told me about the King`s Guards – how they were all conscripted soldiers but practiced formations and marching so hard all year that they displayed impressive precision on the National Day. They always marched before the Children`s Parade and had their show at the University Square. Where we were right now.

And where Victor would hopefully be if Bill had played his cards right.

I scanned the crowds for Victor and his people. They should be easy to detect but I couldn`t see them. I looked at Eric and saw him glancing around too.

"What if they don`t show up?" I asked. "What if they`re doing it somewhere else?"

"He`ll be here," Eric answered but he didn`t seem entirely sure.

The King`s Guards were almost there and then suddenly it happened. Victor jumped out in front of them in an Elvis costume – the typical white one with gems all over it – and smiled at the cameras. There was no doubt he had rehearsed this. Just like Bill had told me in those many phone calls we`d had.

"The King`s Guards," he shouted in English. "Guards for The King."

Loud Elvis music was played from loudspeakers wheeled out in the street and Victor did a silly dance, shaking his hips, and several other people dressed up as celebrities came forward. There was Marilyn Monroe in her white dress, Che Guevera with his cigar, someone who I believed was supposed to be Attilla the Hun, and ten or fifteen other famous characters.

And they were all wearing fangs.

Chaos erupted. The police, who clearly weren`t used to doing anything on the 17th of May but helping kids who`d lost their parents and answering questions from tourists, were trying to grab Victor and his people while the King`s Guards were approaching without changing their course. Or the way they were throwing their bayoneted rifles to each other.

That was when it happened. The guy dressed up as Rhett Butler bumped into one of the soldiers just when he was tossing it rifle. The rifle went high in the air and it seemed everyone knew its path except Victor who had his back turned to the soldiers as he was smiling for all the cameras.

Some people gasped. Some yelled out. A little girl wailed, probably sensing the fear in the people surrounding her.

But it was dead quiet when the bayonet hit Victor. The thud when it went into his backside seemed eerily loud. And then he fell to the ground, a red stain coloring his white Elvis uit.

Everything happened at once. Kids were crying out, people were yelling in anger, the police started arresting Victor's friends – though I noticed Rhett Butler made a daring escape. Reporters were shouting into microphones in all kinds of languages and cameras were zooming in on tears falling down children's cheeks and blood on the street.

The King`s Guards had stopped their march and stood there as still as salt pillars. I heard sirens and saw even more police coming and then an ambulance made its way through the crowds.

And all the time Eric and I gave interviews, stating how shocked we were that Victor would do something as appalling as this. That we had heard rumors that he would be here but that we didn`t know it would be this bad. That we certainly would have alerted the police if we had known but that we couldn`t imagine anyone doing something as despicable as ruining the Children`s Parade just to market their product.

That we hoped no one would buy their product in sympathy for all the children that had had their day ruined.

I hoped we would win this war of publicity but I felt bad too. Seeing the children, seeing the fear. Yes, Victor had done this but we could have prevented it if we hadn`t wanted to hurt him so badly.

Eric and I spent hours being interviewed by reporters and also by the police. I was happy to see the Children`s Parade eventually start up again over an hour late, but could see that all the children were tired from the long delay and there was no joy in their waving the flag.

We were invited to be interviewed by both NRK and TV2, the two television stations with news programs. We divided them between us and after a hasty kiss, we went in different directions.

I came home before Eric that night and immediately went to my computer to check the comments, both from newspapers but also from social media. We had a social media surveillance that calculated how positive or negative the comments on Viking Games were and I signed in to check it.

The front door opened just as I found my answer. It was positive. Very positive. And definitely negative for Victor.

Anyone claiming that all PR is good PR was wrong, apparently, but we needed to see the sales figures before we could be sure.

I turned around and saw Eric sporting a huge grin.

"It was amazing," he said. "I could not have planned it better."

"How`s Victor?" I asked.

Eric frowned. "He`s at the hospital. A wound to the butt cheek, I think. Nothing serious." Then he closed the distance between us in long strides. "I seem to remember promising to fuck you in this _bunad,_ Sookie. Or out of it, if you prefer."

I took a deep breath. Sex was the last thing on my mind right now. It was occupied with images of sad children, crying children, exhausted children. Apparently a couple of kids had even passed out while waiting for the parade to start up again.

Everyone was furious at Victor but I couldn`t help dwelling on the fact that we`d known what he was going to do. Not in detail but enough to know that the parade would be ruined. Actually we had hoped Victor would stop the whole parade.

Now I felt sorry for the children. And I was embarrassed.

"Not now, Eric," I said and turned back to my computer.

Eric was quiet for a moment. Then he huffed.

"What the hell happened to the fun girl I met almost a year ago? You`ve changed, Sookie, and I don`t like it."

And with that he walked into the kitchen. He banged the pots and pans so loudly there was no doubt what mood he was in. Frustrated.

I wanted to shout at him that he`d changed too. That the life I`d had with him would have changed anyone. That …

But I stared at the computer and suddenly I found myself checking the prices for airline tickets back to Louisiana. This was when I saw that someone had used the same airline database to buy tickets recently. And that the ticket that had been bought had been for Tallinn, Estonia.

I had no problem with Eric going to visit his child.

What I had a major problem with was the fact that he hadn`t told me about it.

* * *

**A/N:**

This is as far as the Southern Vampire Mysteries has taken the story (if you don`t count the short stories) and though **Charlaine Harris** will probably publish the first chapter to the next book in this series in just a couple of weeks, Dead without a Work Permit will take a different path from now on. It only has two chapters left and they are sort of my take on the ending of the tale and will not have all the details from the upcoming books. Incorporating new books into this story is hard. I`ve done it twice since I started writing Work Permit – and I decided not to do it again with the upcoming book.

The 17th of May is a very special day in Norway and it`s hard to imagine how huge it is if you`ve never seen it in person. I especially love how children take the center stage on this amazing day.

If you want to see more of it – here is a clip of the King`s guards on the 17th of May: www . youtube . com/watch ? v = 2-mqZXzhJgg (remove spaces). Notice how they ask ladies to dance towards the end. That`s always a tradition and plenty of women stand there just for this dance.

Here are some of the national dresses – every district has its own: www . youtube . com / watch ? v = Hs8n-280tzg


	50. Chapter 50

**Dead without a Work Permit – Chapter 50**

**A/N:**

I know I said in the last chapter there were two chapters left to this story but I decided to post everything now. So this is the last chapter.

I want to thank **Suki59** for correcting my mistakes in this chapter and for running me through Las Vegas. I`m very grateful that you said yes to being my beta!

* * *

**Chapter 50**

I was on the plane going home and I was exhausted. I had promised Eric that I wasn`t going home for good. That I would come back to him. But now that he wasn`t here – now that I wasn`t staring into his beautiful blue eyes – I wasn`t sure.

I had been living a fairly dull life before I`d met him. A life alone and then a life with Bill. It had been predictable and though I at times had wanted more, I had been content too.

When I met Eric, I met a love I`d never expected. I met a man who touched those inner emotions in a way no one had ever done before and I suspected no one would ever do again.

But I had also met a man who was moody, secretive, aggravating and who came with baggage the size of a truck. Baggage that had hurt me and brought me pain, mentally and physically.

And now I was so tired I just wanted to go home and sleep for weeks. Months.

The heat hit me when I landed in Shreveport. It was a kind of humid heat that I had almost forgotten while being in Oslo. When I`d lived in Louisiana, I hadn`t been bothered by it – it had felt natural, but now I started sweating like a pig. If pigs sweated.

So after 10 hours on a plane, a one hour wait in Amsterdam and a two hour wait in Atlanta, I was finally ready to be in Louisiana. Really be in Louisiana.

I walked out the doors, not expecting anyone to meet me, and was surprised by someone shouting my name.

I turned around and saw Jason running towards me. Jason, of all people. Yes, he knew I was coming but I had never expected him to come meet me. First of all because he was supposed to be at work but second of all because he was Jason. My brother was not an I`ll-pick-you-up-at-the-airport kind of person.

He pulled me into a deep hug and suddenly I realized how much I`d missed him. While away I had almost dismissed him from my mind, but here, with his arms around me, I felt at home. His smell, his warmth, his …. I began to cry.

"Shhh, Sis," he mumbled. "You`ll be fine. I promise."

That made me giggle. How was it that he always made promises he couldn`t keep?

"See?" he said and apparently I was wrong. I was fine already. Jason had his way with women. Even with me.

I gave him one more hug and pulled away. "Thank you, Jason."

"Aaaw, Sooks. Don`t worry. Let`s get you to my car so we can get you home."

The word "home" sounded wrong all of a sudden but then I figured it would be Jason`s home, not mine. He`d been living in my house these last couple of months. One of his girlfriends had more or less taken over his house and I had been fine with his staying in my house anyway since it needed someone to look after it.

Now I hoped he would make peace with the woman occupying his house. I wanted to be alone.

I looked out of the window of the car, watching familiar places go by and felt nothing but emptiness.

I had looked forward to going home. To be myself. To find myself, even. But it`s like that old joke – I went home to find myself, but I wasn`t there.

And I wasn`t. I was still in Oslo.

Jason parked outside my house and helped me with my bags. Then he gave me a hug. "I have to be back at work. I hope you`re fine on your own?"

I nodded though I was far from sure. I checked my watch and was amazed with how early it was. My body was still on Oslo time. I was dead tired and only wanted to go to bed but I knew it would be a mistake so I started cleaning instead.

Jason wasn`t exactly a slob but I still detected dust here and there so I vacuumed, mopped the floors, dusted every surface I could find and changed the sheets.

Then I took a good long shower and went to bed.

It was still early in the evening and it was as if my body had suddenly decided to change to Louisiana time – or maybe it was just trying to make things even harder for me – because sleep was nowhere to be found.

I started thinking about Eric and about Norway and that was when I got up. My brain`s circling around that big blond who aggravated me so much but also made my heart sing so loudly would be counterproductive if sleep were my goal.

I took a deep breath and then I called Sam, my old boss when I did PR work in Shreveport.

"Sookie?" he asked in a voice full of surprise. I had corresponded a bit with Sam on Twitter and Facebook but we hadn`t spoken for almost a year.

"Hi, Sam. How are you?"

"I`m fine. But how are you? You`ve been all over the news."

"Yeah, I know. It was quite a thing." I paused. "You know, I`m in Louisiana now."

"You are?" Sam sounded thrilled. "Would you like to meet? I mean, we could have lunch?"

"That would be great." I had hoped Sam would suggest something like that. He was my mentor and the one who`d taught me most of what I knew and talking to him now, made me regret that I hadn`t called him earlier. From Norway. He would have been a voice of reason and I would have loved to have had his input on some of the stuff I had been struggling with. Not the personal stuff – Sam and I never had that kind of relationship – but the professional things. The things I`d been working on.

"Maybe … maybe you could come by the office too? I`m sure everyone would love to see you again. And you could probably teach us a thing or two. Give us an international perspective."

I laughed. "Sure, Sam. I`d love to."

After having agreed on when and where to meet for lunch, we hung up and I was in a much better mood. When I went to bed, I fell asleep immediately.

"Welcome home, Sookie," Sam said. There was the word "home" again.

Sam looked as if he wanted to give me a hug but since we`d never been what you would call hugging friends, he gave me his hand instead – something that felt strange so I pulled him into the hug he was looking for.

"Thank you, Sam," I said when I pulled back.

We sat down and ordered our food. I loved looking at the menu. All the familiar dishes. And the menu was in English – not a language I was a stranger to.

"So, Sookie. Are you back for good?"

"No, Sam," I answered a little too quickly. I added a laugh. It came out fake. "Just a bit of R&R."

"I can see why. Must have been a tough ordeal, that whole parade thing. You came through all right, though. How are the sales figures?"

Now my laughter was real. "That`s the Sam I know. Sales went up after the … parade. And I think our competition has been closed down."

I didn`t just think that. I knew that. Felipe had been appalled by what he`d seen on the Spanish news – his own son ruining the 17th of May parade. Well, he`d been appalled when reporters had started calling him about it. Reporters who had gotten Felipe`s cell phone number from us.

"The rest of the office is looking so much forward to picking your brain afterwards." Sam smiled that crooked smile of his.

We ate our food and I may have closed my eyes from time to time, enjoying the taste of home. I smiled at myself. My brother, my house or my former boss couldn`t make me feel at home, but the food could.

Back at the office, I met old colleagues and some new people that had been hired while I was gone. They all waited for Sam and me in the conference room. I hugged the ones I knew and gave the rest of them a handshake. It was nice to be back – even if I was now an outsider.

"Sookie has been so gracious to give us some more details on her new job at Viking Games and especially about the huge job she did this spring."

Sam continued his introduction and when I was supposed to speak, the words came by themselves, and in a professional tone of voice I gave them an account of everything that had happened and the decisions we`d made. They asked me questions about those choices and also about working with PR in Europe compared to the U.S.

I was happy to oblige and it felt good to be on home turf talking about Norway as the strange country – and not be the stranger who was out of place.

When everyone had asked the questions they wanted to ask and thanked me for my input, Sam took me back to his office and asked me to sit down.

"You`ve learned a lot, Sookie," he stated.

"I have." I certainly had learned a lot and not just professionally.

He leaned back in his chair. "Now Sookie, I`m going to ask you for a favor and I don`t want you to take it the wrong way."

I nodded.

"We have this new client and … to tell you the truth, none of us know the first thing about computer games and you know so much. I wanted to ask you if you would consider doing a little bit of consulting for us."

"What would that mean? You know I still work for Viking Games and I can`t start helping out the competition."

Sam held up his hands. "Oh, this is a game made for children and would certainly not be a competitor to Viking Games. It`s just … you know there`s this big game convention coming up next month in Las Vegas. They just need some help with the publicity there."

"Next month." I searched my brain. I`d known about the convention but had forgotten it again. I was supposed to have been there but it had seemed of little importance when we were planning our counterattack on Victor. "They`re a bit late if they haven`t planned anything yet." And so was Viking Games. A wave of guilt hit me.

"Believe me – they know it. But they`re a tiny, new company and they`ve been focusing on making the product, more than on selling it," Sam explained.

"Classic mistake," I commented. I thought for a moment. "I guess I could help them out some but my main focus has to be Viking Games at that convention. After all, I`m in charge of their publicity there." _And I`m doing a terrible job,_ I wanted to add.

"I`m sure they`ll be happy with whatever you can assist them on. You know, if you help me out on this one, I`m sure I could add someone to help you with whatever you want to do with Viking Games. Scratching each other`s backs, so to speak."

I smiled, envisioning Sam as an old dog being scratched behind the ears.

"Sure. How about I meet your client here and whoever is in charge of this account? Maybe this person will also work for me? Then we could both go to Las Vegas … " I counted in my head. " … around the end of next week and start working out the details locally. How does that sound?"

Sam and I agreed on details and I drove home.

When I got to my house, I called Bill on his cell phone, forgetting the time difference entirely.

"Hello?" Bill answered in a sleepy voice.

"I`m sorry, Bill. I didn`t mean to wake you up."

"Sookie?"

I could hear noise and figured he either sat up in bed or got up. I had helped him get an apartment in Oslo and I figured that was where he was.

"The one and only. Look, Bill, it can wait until the morning."

"No, it`s fine, Sookie. I`m awake now."

"I was just wondering about that convention in Las Vegas. Who`s handling it?"

I felt bad for asking him that since I was supposed to have been the one doing it – or at least to have found someone to do it.

"I am, as a matter of fact."

"You are?"

"Yes, Eric asked me to. I`m American, after all, and he figured it would be easier for me to find my way around over there."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"That`s great, Bill. I`m sure you`ll do a great job."

"He also told me not to bother you."

"Really?" I asked.

"I could do with some help, though," he said. "Just don`t tell Eric I asked for it."

I could hear him smiling through the phone.

I laughed. "I actually already made arrangements to go to Las Vegas next week. When are you going?"

"Whenever you are, Sookie. I`m looking forward to being home. I`m not really cut out for Scandinavia."

"Then why did you move there?"

Bill sighed and I knew I shouldn`t press him on the issue.

We said our goodbyes and hung up.

You know how they say time flies when you`re having fun? Well, my week moved incredibly slowly. I talked to Bill every day but I didn`t hear a word from Eric. I knew he was in Estonia and probably busy trying to find a solution to having a child in another country and still wanting to be a father to that child. But I was pretty sure he could have found five minutes to talk to me if he had really wanted to.

I had some preliminary meetings with Sam`s clients and my new assistant, Octavia. She was probably close to three times my age, very sweet and even if she didn`t seem very efficient, she was. I bought tickets for Las Vegas and booked myself a room at the at Caesar`s Palace where the convention would be held. I`d also called reporters in Nevada and was pleased to see that Viking Games was still news. So I arranged for a few interviews with minor television stations and one newspaper. The trade magazines would be at the convention and I made a list of which ones I needed to talk to.

I was set to go.

Finally the day arrived. I packed my suitcase with the things I needed in Las Vegas and got into the car I`d rented. I was going to deliver it at the airport in Shreveport and rent a new one when I came back. Or maybe buy myself a car. I wasn`t sure. I hadn`t given "after Las Vegas" much thought.

It was early evening when I landed in Las Vegas and I was looking forward to room service dinner and reading in my romance novel. I`d taken up reading them again when I came back to Louisiana and I loved them even more than I had when I was younger. I`d also figured that Las Vegas wasn`t the kind of town where I would have wanted to go sightseeing alone in. I`d never been interested in gambling and from what I had gathered, that was pretty much all Las Vegas was about. Gambling and quickie weddings.

But when I stepped into the reception area of the lobby of the hotel I heard a voice calling out for me.

"Sookie!" It was that deep voice of Bill`s.

I turned around, happy to see him. Eating alone didn`t sound too appealing after all.

"Hi Bill! I didn`t think you`d be here yet?"

"I changed my ticket to come a bit earlier. How was your flight?"

Our light conversation continued while I checked into the hotel and when I went to find my room we arranged to meet in the lobby for dinner. I was happy Bill was in Las Vegas with me.

I quickly changed my clothes, added some mascara and brushed my hair and went down to Bill. He had his back to me when I came out to the lobby where he was waiting and I couldn`t help noticing the looks he got from women who passed him. Yes, Bill was a very handsome man.

"Hungry?" I asked when I came up to him.

"Starving. I hate traveling across time zones."

Bill had reserved a table at Restaurant Guy Savoy which claimed to be "the ultimate experience in refined dining." I wasn`t sure I was up for refined dining and Bill looked pretty tired, but the restaurant was his choice and I wasn`t about to complain.

The little I`d seen of Las Vegas hadn`t exactly made it my new favorite town. The town sure wasn`t good for your blood pressure, what with the hectic atmosphere and the gambling and one-armed bandits that were everywhere. Going from the elevators – that were cleverly situated to tempt people to gamble a little going to and from their rooms – to the lobby and watching all the people hunched over the various machines they were putting their hard earned money into, made me think of two words. Hope and desperation.

The restaurant was something else, though. I felt calm the moment I walked in and I drew a deep breath.

I looked around and then I looked at Bill. It was a lovely table at a lovely restaurant – and I was there with a very lovely man. There was still something missing.

Bill picked up on it when we were almost done with the first course out of the four we`d ordered (Bill had wanted to go for the ten course menu, but I`d vetoed it).

"Do you miss … Oslo?" he asked.

I looked at him and knew what he meant. I also knew why he asked.

"I`ve tried not to," I said. "I wish … " I wasn`t sure what I wished so I stopped talking.

Bill gave my hand a squeeze over the table.

"I know the feeling of wanting someone when you`re trying not to."

I looked at him. "You`re a good friend, Bill," I said. I saw he caught both meanings of what I said.

"I`m glad. I want to be your friend, Sookie. You know you mean a lot to me. I was stupid not to see it before but that was my mistake and I can`t undo it. Now I just wish you happiness."

That brought tears to my eyes. I coughed a little to make them go away.

"Oh, Bill," I said because that was all I really could say.

"Now, if you find you`re tired of blonds and want to go back to someone tall, dark and handsome – then I`m your man." He laughed and I couldn`t help laughing too.

"You would be my first choice, Bill."

Why was it that Bill was a so much better man now that I wasn`t dating him than he ever was when I did? I shrugged to myself. I knew it would never be Bill and me. I did not have those kinds of feelings for him and there would always be the … what had happened between us.

Bill, Octavia – who came to Las Vegas the day after Bill and I – and I worked hard at designing the area we had at the convention, making sure we were invited to conferences, calling reporters, inviting guests and sorting through all the little details that can make a big difference. Octavia and I also helped Sam`s client.

On the third evening I had an idea I should have had weeks or months earlier.

"We should have had someone in a Viking costume here, Bill."

"Like Victor did in Oslo?" Bill teased.

I rolled my eyes at him. Then I looked at him. Really looked at him. "I don`t suppose you would … "

"Dress up as a Viking?" he asked.

"Yes. I mean, you`re used to dressing up for your employer, aren`t you … Rhett?"

"I hate to burst your bubble, Sookie, but I don`t think Vikings had black hair." Bill smiled. "Or had mah refined Southern looks," he drawled.

I knew Bill was right, but I still thought I had a good idea.

"But this is Las Vegas, Sookie. There are all kinds of performers here. I`m sure you can find someone who looks like a Viking. And a Viking costume shouldn`t be too hard to find here either. I can look into it."

"Would you?" I asked.

"Sure. I`ll get you horned helmets and all."

I laughed. "No horns. Bill, you`ve lived in Norway – you know Vikings didn`t have horns on their helmets."

"Just testing how much Norway had rubbed off on you, sweetheart," he said, grinning. "And I would say it has. A lot."

"Yeah, yeah," I said in a tone that told him this was not a topic for conversation. "Get me a Viking and I`ll be happy."

"That`s what all the women say. No one wants the handsome Southerner."

"Look around, Bill. Women are staring at you." I smiled at him.

Bill turned his head around. "Who, who?" he asked in a playful tone.

"Oh, Bill."

The day before the convention opened, we had everything ready apart from the Viking.

"When will the Viking come?" I asked Bill when we admired our design.

"Actually I thought you could dress up as one," Bill deadpanned.

"What? No way I`m standing there in a Viking costume."

"The new game has a shield maiden as one of the main characters," Bill said.

"I`m not going to be a shield maiden."

"Sure you are."

"I thought you would hire someone. An actor?"

"Well, I haven`t found an actor so you`re it." Bill looked dead serious.

"You have to be kidding?"

"No, I`m not." Then he gave me a bag he`d been carrying. "Why don`t you go to your room and try it on? I have the shield and the sword in my room and will bring it down."

"What? … "

Bill pushed at me. "Just try it on. If it`s something you absolutely can`t wear, we`ll find an actress. But just try, Sookie. I think it would give us a lot of publicity."

I huffed. Publicity was important but me in a Viking costume?

"I hope this is not some kind of porn costume or something."

"Yeah, like I`m going to let you stand half naked at a convention where 90% of the visitors are men." Then he paused. "That wouldn`t be a half bad idea, actually." He laughed at his own joke but stopped when he noticed I wasn`t laughing with him. "Go and change, Sookie. I`ll be up in thirty minutes."

I cursed Bill to an early grave and turned and headed back through the convention area to the casino and the elevators.

When I came to my room, I pulled the costume out of the bag Bill had given me. It did look fairly tasteful and even historically correct. No boobs or butts showing. A little too much thigh, but I could live with that.

I put the costume on and looked at myself in the mirror. Apart from the embarrassment of being in a costume in general, there was nothing wrong with this one. I looked good. And with my blonde hair I could even pull off a Viking look.

I growled at the mirror. I was supposed to be a fierce warrior, after all.

There was a knock on the door and I went to open it.

"The costume isn`t half bad, Bill, but … "

That was as far as I got because it wasn`t Bill who was outside my room. It was another Viking. A male Viking. And he had long blond hair.

"Eric?" I asked. It was Eric but my brain couldn`t make the connection. He was supposed to be in Estonia.

"Eric Bloodaxe at your service, my fair maiden," he said, grinning.

"What are you doing here?"

"Pillaging you, I hope."

I pulled him into the room and closed the door. "Be serious. What are you doing here?"

"Bill called me and said you needed a Viking."

"Bill did?" I asked.

"Yes. He also seemed to think you needed me."

"Bill did?" I said again. I should try and learn new ways of asking the same question.

"I think he mentioned that you pined for me." Eric winked.

"Now I know you`re lying. Bill would never say that."

"The last part may have been my imagination." Eric shrugged.

"Or in your dreams," I said.

"Or in my dreams," he confirmed. "I hoped that you would be pining for me."

"Eric … " I wasn`t sure what to say. "You can`t just show up here … " _all gorgeous and edible _"and expect me to jump in your arms."

Eric sat down on the bed. "Why not, Sookie?" There was no accusation or mocking in his tone. He wanted to know why I wouldn`t just jump into his arms.

"Well … everything."

"Everything? What are you saying? You didn`t miss me?"

"Let me ask you first. Did you miss me?" I asked.

"Of course I missed you, Sookie. Estonia was terrible. Freyda is an awful person who expects her son to take over Northman Enterprises one day. But it doesn`t matter. All I could think of when I was there was how much I missed you."

Eric held out his hand and I took it. I sat down next to him.

"It does matter. What happened in Estonia?"

"When I told Freyda I was going to let Felipe stay in charge of Northman Enterprises, she went ballistic. She`d expected me to fight for a takeover and that her son would be my heir. It was what Appius had promised her." Eric`s thumb caressed the top of my hand.

"But you never wanted to manage more than Viking Games," I said.

"I never did but it seems no one believed me. I mean, I never did like the way Felipe does business but I had a long talk with him and he agreed to take my opinions into consideration. There are going to be a few changes and I`ll be on the board of Northman Enterprises."

"But you won`t run it?"

"How could I? My father spent most of his time running it and then my mother did. I have other priorities."

"Such as?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you? I want you to come back with me and I want us to be … like we were."

I laughed but it sounded hollow. "Like we were when? When I rejected you? When your former lover attacked me? When terrorists attacked you? Or when … " I couldn`t bring myself to address what had happened in London. It was still too raw. "We`ve never been one of those quiet couples who can just enjoy each other`s company. There will always be something new to worry about."

Eric stared at his feet. "I know," he said with a sigh.

"And I can live with that, Eric."

He looked at me.

"As long as you tell me what`s going on. I`m not going to leave you because you were tricked into having a child you didn`t know about but I am going to leave you if you keep thinking I`ll never know about what you do. That you shouldn`t keep me informed."

He took my other hand as well.

"To answer your question, Eric. Yes, I`ve missed you. I love you and there`s nothing I can do about it. But I can`t live with you if you don`t look at me as your partner."

I was going to say something else but it drowned in the kiss Eric gave me.

"I`m not used to telling anyone everything," he whispered between kisses.

"Well, then get used to it. No more hiding things from me."

"Aaawl right, pardner," Eric drawled in a fake cowboy accent.

"Wrong accent for the costume, Viking-boy," I said with a grin.

"I guess it`s back to the pillaging then," he said and pushed be back on the bed.

If true shield maidens were supposed to be maidens, then I was in trouble. Eric made sure there wasn`t much maiden left in the room that night.

But there was plenty of pillaging.

**The End**

* * *

**A/N:**  
I started posting this story in August 2009 so it`s been a while. I want to thank everyone who`s followed this story all these 50 chapters – whether you started out reading 2 ½ years ago or yesterday. It`s been fun writing this and I`ve come realize a thing or two about the SVM series while checking the books for details.

The greatest revelation for me was that Eric definitely isn`t perfect. I suppose I started out being smitten by his Vikingness and ended up feeling sorry for Sookie. I`m still smitten by Eric but I thank all the stars I don`t have to deal with him on a daily basis (though I probably wouldn`t have rescinded his invitation had he stopped by).

Why did I choose to end Work Permit like this?

1, I did not have the stamina to include the last books to my tale. It`s hard to change the storyline when a new book comes along and I just couldn`t face doing it again. That means that my story ends a bit more abruptly than the SVM will. Eric and Sookie will have to go through so much more than I put them through here.

2, I think Eric and Sookie will have a relatively HEA in the SVM but I don`t think it`ll be a HEA where everything is solved – which was why I gave them the same in this tale. I don`t think there will be any church weddings, children or Sookie being turned – and I also don`t think all the problems with the vampire and fae worlds will be solved. I think Eric and Sookie will grow closer and find that they love each other even if their love has a price. No roses without thorns and all that. So this was what I chose to do. Let them be together at the end – resolved in knowing that they belong together – but without all their problems being magically fixed. People don`t change personalities overnight and Eric and Sookie won`t either.

I would love to hear your comments on how you think the Charlaine Harris will end the Southern Vampire Mysteries.

It`s weird not having this story to write on anymore but I have written quite a lot on two multi-chapter stories: One about Sookie the Shieldmaiden (yes, we`re back in the Viking age) and one about Eric being cursed – only he and all the other vampires are still in the coffin and Sookie doesn`t know about their existence. I`ve also finished a couple of one-shots and will hopefully post them soon.

And now my A/N is growing longer than the chapter, which is fairly typical of me *blushes*. So I`ll part with a song. This is the Norwegian singer **Maria Mena** singing an amazing version of Kizz` "I was made for loving you": www . youtube . com / watch ? v = 1WBVqy9QGIo (remove spaces).


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